Double-Pass Photovoltaic-Thermal Solar Collector
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 132, Issue 3
Abstract
A hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) solar air heater system which generates both electricity and heat energy simultaneously was studied. This hybrid system consists of monocrystalline silicon cells pasted to an absorber plate with fins attached at the other side of the absorber surface. Air as heat removing fluid is made to flow through an upper channel and then under the absorber plate or lower channel of the collector. Only a small part of the absorbed solar radiation is converted to electricity, while the rest increases the temperature of the cells. Improvements to the total efficiency of the system can be achieved by the use of a double-pass collector system and fins. This paper presents the experimental and theoretical studies on a finned double-pass PV/T solar air heater suitable for low temperature applications. A steady-state closed-form solution to determine the outlet and mean photovoltaic temperature has been obtained. An experimental setup has been developed. Comparisons are made between the experimental and theoretical results and close agreement, is obtained.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to thank the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment Malaysia for sponsoring this work under Project No. UNSPECIFIEDIRPA 02-02-02-0007-EA 109.
References
Bhargava, A. K., Garg, H. P., and Sharma, V. K. (1985). “Theory of multiple-pass solar air heaters.” Energy, 10(5), 589–599.
Bhargava, A. K., Garg, H. P., and Agarwal, R. K. (1991). “Study of a hybrid solar system–solar air heater combined with solar cell.” Sol. Energy, 31(5), 471–479.
Choudhury, C., Andersen, S. L., and Rekstad, J. (1988). “A solar air heater for low temperature applications.” Sol. Energy, 40(4), 335–343.
Cole Appel, B. E., and Haberstroh, R. D. (1976). “Performance of air-cooled flat-plate collectors.” Proc., Conf. on Sharing the Sun, Solar Technologies in the Seventies, Winnipeg, Vol. 2, 94–106.
Cox, C. H., and Raghuraman, P. (1985). “Design considerations for flat-plate photovoltaic/thermal collectors.” Sol. Energy, 35, 227–245.
Florschuetz, L. W. (1979). “Extension of the Hottel-Whillier model to the analysis of combined photovoltaic thermal flat collector.” Sol. Energy, 22, 361–366.
Garg, H. P., Datta, G., and Bandyopadhyay, B. (1983). “A study on the effect of enhanced heat transfer area in solar air heaters.” Energy Convers. Manage., 23(1), 43–49.
Kern, Jr., E. C., and Russell, M. C. (1978). “Combined photovoltaic and thermal hybrid collector system.” Proc., 13th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialist, Washington, D.C., 1153–1157.
Malik, M. A. S., and Buelow, F. H. (1973). “Heat transfer characteristic of a solar dryer.” UNESCO Congress, Sun in the Service of Mankind, Paris, Vol. 55.
Ong, K. S. (1995). “Thermal performance of solar air heaters: Mathematical model and solution procedure.” Sol. Energy, 55(2), 93–l09.
Petukhov, B. S. (1970). “Heat transfer and friction in turbulent pipe flow with variable physical properties.” Advances in heat transfer, J. P. Hartnett and T. F. Irvine, eds., Academic, New York, 504–564.
Prakash, J. (1994). “Transient analysis of a photovoltaic-thermal solar collector for cogeneration of electricity and hot air/water.” Energy Convers. Manage., 35(11), 967–972.
Raghuraman, P. (1981). “Analytical predictions of liquid and air photovoltaic/thermal flat plate collector performance.” J. Sol. Energy Eng., 103, 291–298.
Sopian, K., Yigit, K. S., Liu, H. T., Kakac, S., and Veziroglu, T. N. (1996). “Performance analysis of photovoltaic thermal air heaters.” Energy Convers. Manage., 37(11), 1657–1670.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 132 • Issue 3 • December 2006
Pages: 121 - 126
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 7, 2005
Accepted: Sep 7, 2005
Published online: Dec 1, 2006
Published in print: Dec 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.