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Numerical Simulation of Nanofluid-Based Parallel Cooling Photovoltaic Thermal Collectors

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Abstract

A novel hybrid cogeneration system based on a parallel-cooled photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) module is presented in this paper. The temperature of the parallel-cooled PV/T module is more uniform due to the parallel cooling fluid of air mixed with water or nanofluids (SiO2, CuO, Ag, and Al2O3). The results show that the overall temperature of the PV cell in the parallel-cooled module is about 2 K lower than that in the single-cooled module, with a 9.01% improvement in thermal efficiency and a 0.09% enhancement in electrical efficiency. The PV/T module with nanofluid shows a significant improvement in thermal and electrical efficiency. The thermal and electrical efficiencies of the parallel-cooled PV/T module consisting of Al2O3 nanofluid and air are 89.21% and 9.84%, respectively. Compared with the non-nanofluid parallel cooling scheme, the cooling method consisting of 1 wt%, 3 wt%, or 5 wt% Al2O3 and air, the thermal efficiency of PV/T was improved by 5.47%, 5.30%, and 3.93%, respectively with the solar radiation of 800 W/m2 and the flow rate of 0.10 m/s, while the electrical efficiency was improved by 0.026%, 0.027%, and 0.034%, respectively. In addition, when the solar radiation is 1000 W/m2 with a flow rate of 0.025 m/s, the air-water parallel cooling PV/T module achieves a maximum exergy efficiency of 11.74%.

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Abbreviations

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

EVA:

Ethylene-vinyl acetate

MAE:

Mean absolute error

PV/T:

Photovoltaic and thermal

RMSE:

Root mean square error

S2S:

Surface to surface

A :

area/m2

C p :

specific heat capacity/J·(kg·K)−1

G :

irradiation/W·m−2

g :

gravity acceleration/m·s−2

h :

heat transfer coefficient/W· (m2 ·K)−1

k :

conductivity/W·(m·K)−1

p :

pressure/N·m−2

q :

heat flux/W·m−2

S :

flow rate factor

T :

temperature/K

V :

fluid velocity/m·s−1

α :

absorptivity

β :

temperature coefficient/K−1

η :

efficiency

θ :

the tilt angle of setup/(°)

ρ :

density/kg·m−3

τ :

transmittance

φ :

volume fraction

Φ :

Absorber heat flux on plate

amb:

ambient

c:

collector

e:

electricity

f:

fluid medium

g:

glass cover

i:

inlet

l:

liquid

nf:

nanofluid

o:

outlet

p:

power

pv:

photovoltaic cell

ref:

reference

s:

solar

th:

thermal

w:

wall

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Acknowledgements

This research by the first two authors has been supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 52276007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hebei Key Laboratory of Low Carbon and High Efficiency Power Generation Technology, North China Electric Power University, Baoding, 071003, China

    Jiangjiang Wang, Yanbo Qin, Shuojie Huo, Kangzhen Xie & Yiming Li

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  1. Jiangjiang Wang
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  2. Yanbo Qin
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  3. Shuojie Huo
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  4. Kangzhen Xie
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  5. Yiming Li
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Correspondence to Jiangjiang Wang.

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Wang, J., Qin, Y., Huo, S. et al. Numerical Simulation of Nanofluid-Based Parallel Cooling Photovoltaic Thermal Collectors. J. Therm. Sci. 32, 1644–1656 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1741-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11630-023-1741-y

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