A Numerical Study of Dual-Inlet Air-Cooled PV/T Solar Collectors with Various Airflow Channel Configurations

Zhangyang Kang, Zhaoyang Lu, Gangfu Song and Qiongqiong Yao ()
Additional contact information
Zhangyang Kang: School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Zhaoyang Lu: School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Gangfu Song: School of Environmental and Municipal Engineering, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Qiongqiong Yao: State Grid Henan Marketing Service Center (Metrology Center), Zhengzhou 450051, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-20

Abstract: The multi-inlet air-cooled photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) technology not only avoids the poor heat transfer conditions of single-inlet PV/T air collectors but also reduces photovoltaic (PV) peak temperature and improves solar energy utilization. Since air-cooled PV/T collectors use no more than three inlets, the increase in thermal efficiency is significantly more effective. Therefore, a numerical analysis of an air-cooled PV/T solar collector with two side inlets was performed. The heat transfer efficiency and flow characteristics were then investigated for various air channel configurations. Increasing the area of the second inlet improves thermal and electrical efficiency. As the length ratio of the front and rear airflow channels is reduced, the average outlet temperature first decreases and then increases. The heat-exchanging quantity of the dual-inlet air-cooled PV/T collector is minimal. The thermal efficiency of the dual-inlet air-cooled PV/T collector can be elevated by increasing the angle between the solar panel and the bottom plate. However, the average temperature of the solar panels is increased and the photoelectric conversion efficiency decreased. This design will achieve a reduction in carbon emissions and an increase in the proportion of clean energy in a low- or zero-carbon green building.

Keywords: photovoltaic/thermal; air-cooled; dual-inlet; numerical simulation; airflow channel configuration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/9897/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/16/9897/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:16:p:9897-:d:885043

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().