Simulation of different configuration of hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Solar Collector (PVTS) Designs

Much effort has been spent on the research and development of hybrid PVT, in order to improve the efficiency of thermal and electricity. The efficiency of the thermal and electricity is known as total efficiency of the PVT is affected by many system design parameters and operating conditions. Due to that, seven new design configurations of collectors has been designed, investigated and compared. Simulation has been performed to determine the best design that provides high total efficiency under certain range of conditions. In this simulation, the system is analyzed under random variations of solar radiation, ambient temperature, and neglecting wind and climate conditions. In this simulation also, it is assumed that the collector is represented as a flat plate thermal collector with single glazing sheet. Based on these simulations, various data were collected and the simulation results of these PVT systems shows that the best design shows that the best design is the Spiral flow design. It is proven through mathematical model that the spiral flows design having the highest thermal efficiency of 50.12% with corresponding cell efficiency of 14.98% is very much encouraging, considering the simple design of this collector type.