Energetic and parametric studies of a basic hybrid collector (PV/T-Air) and a photovoltaic (PV) module for building applications: Performance analysis under El Jadida weather conditions

Abstract

The photovoltaic thermal hybrid collectors represent one of the most used technologies in positive energy buildings, the device allows converting the available solar energy into heat and electricity at the same time. In this study, a comparative analysis is introduced between two different types of solar conversion devices: conventional hybrid solar air collector (PV/T-Air) and photovoltaic (PV) module. Also, a parametric study was performed to know the impact of different parameters related to the performance of both solar systems. A numerical system based on the fourth order Runge–Kutta iteration method, is used in this study, founded on a strong coupling between the heat balance equations and the different electrical and thermal parameters of both configurations that are included in this work. The energy performance evaluation was applied to the climatic conditions of El Jadida city, located in Morocco. The numerical results indicates that the estimated value of the daily average overall energy conversion efficiency attains: 30.22% for the PV module, and 52.14% for the examined hybrid air collector (PV/T-Air). These results are calculated with an air mass flow rate of 0.0215 kg/s, and these values are according to the meteorological data collected on the site of El Jadida city for a sunny day in July.