Investigation of Water Based Photovoltaic Collector

The inspiration of combining photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal collector to provide electrical and heat energy is not new, however it isan area that has received only limited attention. With concern growing over energy sources and their usage, photovoltaic thermal (PVT) has become an area which is receiving much more attention. It comprised of the PV efficiency and thermal efficiency. The total of the both efficiencies, which is known as PVT efficiency was used to evaluate the overall performance of the system. Based on the testing performed on the collector, it was shown that both efficiencies increased when the mass flow rate increased. Therefore, the total efficiency (PVT efficiency) and primary-energy saving efficiency increased simultaneously when the mass flow rate increased. The water based PVT collector with Spiral flow absorber produced PVT efficiency of 58% to 64 % with 10% -12% PV efficiency and of42% -50% thermal efficiency, also it produced primary-energy saving efficiency from about 75% to 84% at the mass flow rate from 0.012 kg/s to 0.040 kg/s and solar radiation of 700W/m². On the other hand, the PVT exergy is between 100 to 170 W with thermal exergy of 50 to 120 W and electrical exergy of 60 to 63 W. Again, the entropy generation is between 92 and 129 W showing that it decreased with increased mass flow rate. Exergy, Analysis, Spiral Flow Absorber, Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) Collector.