Evaluation of the electrical performance of a photovoltaic thermal system using nano-enhanced paraffin and nanofluids

Performance degradation of photovoltaic modules occurs when cell temperature increases; this is due to losses within the cell and the effect of surrounding weather as well. An increase in cell temperature leads to a decrease in the open-circuit voltage and hence, the electrical power produced by the...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ali H.A. Al-Waeli, Kamaruzzaman Sopian, Hussein A. Kazem, Miqdam T. Chaichan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2020-10-01
Series:Case Studies in Thermal Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214157X19304137
Description
Summary:Performance degradation of photovoltaic modules occurs when cell temperature increases; this is due to losses within the cell and the effect of surrounding weather as well. An increase in cell temperature leads to a decrease in the open-circuit voltage and hence, the electrical power produced by the PV. A nanofluid and nano-PCM (paraffin wax) -based PV/T hybrid collector has been employed in this paper. The experiments focus on the electrical performance and characteristics of the PV module under the weather conditions of Bangi-Malaysia. The cooling technique used is attaching the module to a nano-PCM tank and running nanofluids within. The results from the experimental tests show a maximum PV efficiency of 13.7% under operation for PV/T collector as appose to conventional PV module, which achieved an efficiency of 7.1%, which is suitable relative to the efficiency of 14% under standard testing conditions.
ISSN:2214-157X