A solar cell is a converter that uses semiconductor material to convert photon energy packets. The electrons located in the material's crystalline structure can escape from the bonds between their atoms and generate electricity. Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells can work via diffuse radiation and have the highest efficiency among other types of solar cell generation. Photovoltaic Thermal Collector (PVT)-based active cooling technology makes it possible to increase the efficiency of PV solar cells and to generate thermal energy at the same time through the direct conversion of solar radiation. Therefore, this study modeled various riser configurations on PVT collectors to cool PV solar cells using water heat transfer fluids and nanofluids: TiO2, SiO2, and Al2O3. The mass flow rates were varied. An ANSYS models a simulation of the heat transfer phenomenon between the PV cell layer and the fluid. Only the heat transfer phenomenon generated from the natural convection of the PV cell layer is studied using steady-state thermal ANSYS with simulated controlled conditions. The radiation intensity of 1000 W/m2 has the photovoltaic solar cells with the most negligible efficiency. The semicircular collector configuration with water at a mass flow rate of 0.5 kg/s demonstrated the highest electrical efficiency, achieving 11.98%.
Keywords: Computational fluid dynamics; Nanofluid; PVT; Solar energy; Thermal collector.
© 2023 The Authors.