Air cooling low concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (LCPV/T) solar collector to approach uniform temperature distribution on the PV plate

In this study, to prevent local excessive temperature on a photovoltaic module, uniformity of air flow as cooling fluid in a low concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (LCPV/T) collector has considered. To obtain a uniform distribution of airflow taking into account the overall operating conditions, eight different geometries of diffuser were investigated theoretically by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Simulations were conducted on the most appropriate sketch with acceptable uniform air flow distribution on the PV module. The experimental results showed that the new designed diffuser significantly developed an even distribution of air velocity throughout the collector. Comparing the results with the previously published results showed that the new diffuser concave side walls and three inner deflectors improved the electrical efficiency of the PV/T collector by 20%. Also the effects of air flow rates (three levels) and concentrated solar illumination on the performance of a PV/System was experimentally measured. Using a concentrator improves electrical, thermal and overall efficiency by 36%, 42.2% and 40.5% respectively. By increasing air flow rate from 0.008 to 0.016 (kg/s); the electrical, thermal and overall efficiency were improved by 13.5, 22.75 and 22.41% respectively.