Design of a Flat Plate Photovoltaic Thermal Hybrid Collector: Modelling and Experimental Investigations
Abstract
In this paper, the interest in the development of a single-glazed flat-plate photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collector is discussed. In order to evaluate the performances of a PV-T collector, a simplified 2D model has been used to simulate the thermal and electrical efficiency operating range according to the collector properties. Thus, key-parameters for performance improvements were identified and quantified. Based on those investigations a collector has been designed, built and tested. Improved assembling methods were used, focusing on both heat transfer between PV cells and fluid and on optical properties of materials.