Using computational fluid dynamics for different alternatives water flow path in a thermal photovoltaic (PVT) system

This study aim to use the finite volume method to solve differential equations related to three-dimensional simulation of a solar collector. Modeling is done using ANSYS-fluent software program. The investigation is done for a photovoltaic (PV) solar cell, with the dimension of 394 × 84 mm², which is the aluminum type and receives the constant heat flux of 800 W.m⁻². Water is also used as the working fluid, and the Reynolds number is 500.

In the present study, the effect of fluid flow path on the thermal, electrical and fluid flow characteristics of a PV thermal (PVT) collector is investigated. Three alternatives for flow paths, namely, direct, curved and spiral for coolant flow, are considered, and a numerical model to simulate the system performance is developed.

The results show that the highest efficiency is achieved by the solar cell with a curved fluid flow path. Additionally, it is found that the curved path’s efficiency is 0.8% and 0.5% higher than that of direct and spiral paths, respectively. Moreover, the highest pressure drop occurs in the curved microchannel route, with around 260 kPa, which is 2% and 5% more than the pressure drop of spiral and direct.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there has been no study that investigates numerically heat transfer, fluid flow and electrical performance of a PV solar thermal cell, simultaneously. Moreover, the effect of the microchannel routes which are considered for water flow has not been considered by researchers so far. Taking all the mentioned points into account, in this study, numerical analysis on the effect of different microchannel paths on the performance of a PVT solar collector is carried. The investigation is conducted for the Reynolds number of 500.