Electrical and Thermal Performances of Bi-Fluid PV/Thermal Collectors

Oussama El Manssouri, Bekkay Hajji, Giuseppe Marco Tina, Antonio Gagliano and Stefano Aneli
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Oussama El Manssouri: Renewable Energy, Embedded System and Data Processing Laboratory, National School of Applied Sciences, Mohamed First University, BP. 669, 60000 Oujda, Morocco
Bekkay Hajji: Renewable Energy, Embedded System and Data Processing Laboratory, National School of Applied Sciences, Mohamed First University, BP. 669, 60000 Oujda, Morocco
Giuseppe Marco Tina: DIEEI (Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering), University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Antonio Gagliano: DIEEI (Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering), University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy
Stefano Aneli: DIEEI (Department of Electric, Electronic and Computer Engineering), University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: Photovoltaic (PV) modules suffer from a reduction of electric conversion due to the high operating temperatures of the PV cells. Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) technology represents an effective solution for cooling the PV cells. This paper discusses a theoretical study on a novel bi-fluid PV/T collector. One dimensional steady-state numerical model is developed, and computer simulations are performed using MATLAB. This numerical model is based on a pilot PV/T plant, installed in the Campus of the University of Catania, and was experimentally validated. The design of the proposed bi-fluid PV/T is based on a commercial WISC PV/T collector, to which are added an air channel, an aluminum absorber with fins, and a layer of thermal insulation. The analysis of the thermal behavior of the proposed collector is carried out as a function of the flow rate of the two heat transfer fluids (air and water). Finally, the comparative analysis between the conventional water-based PV/T collector, namely PV/T, and the bi-fluid (water/air-based) WISC PVT, namely PV/Tb, is presented for both winter and summer days. For the investigated winter day, the numerical results show an overall improvement of the performance of the bi-fluid PV/T module, with an increase of thermal energy transferred to the liquid side of 20%, and of 15.3% for the overall energy yield in comparison to the conventional PV/T collector. Instead, a loss of 0.2% of electricity is observed. No performance improvements were observed during the summer day.

Keywords: PV/T water collector; bi-fluid; electrical power; thermal power; fins (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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