Nanofluid-based photovoltaic thermal solar collector with nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material (Nano-PCM) and twisted absorber tubes

Abstract

Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collectors convert solar energy into thermal and photovoltaic energy. The thermal performance of a PVT collector with a twisted absorber tube and nanoparticle-enhanced phase change material (Nano-PCM) was evaluated. The experiments were aimed to evaluate the photovoltaic, thermal and combination photovoltaic thermal efficiencies using an indoor solar simulator. Circular and twisted absorber tubes with Nano-PCM were evaluated in two designs. The working fluid was water with 0%, 0.3%, and 0.6% volume fractions of SiC nanofluids. The highest photovoltaic, thermal, and combined photovoltaic thermal efficiencies for the PVT-PCM with twisted tube and 0.6% nanofluids were 9.57, 84.74, and 94.31, respectively. The use of twisted absorber tubes with Nano-PCM increased the efficiency of the PVT collector.

Keywords

• PVT
• Nano-PCM
• Thermal efficiency
• Photovoltaic efficiency
• Photovoltaic thermal efficiency
• Primary energy saving efficiency