Study of performance of the flexible (Al-based) N-PVT-TEC collectors in different configurations

Abstract

The opaque photovoltaic thermal (PVT) produces both thermal and electrical energy. In order to increase thermal energy, we have considered flexible (Al based) PV module for the present study. Further, we have considered thermo-electric cooler (TEC) integrated with flexible PV module to enhanced electrical power. Hence, an overall power can be increases in flexible PVT-TEC collector. A concept of series and parallel combination of flexible PVT-TEC collectors is proposed to optimize of series (n) and parallel (m) combinations for a given number of N (= n × m) collectors for maximum overall exergy depending on thermal and electrical energy which has not been considered yet so far. Further, a new expression has also been developed for the heat removal factor and instantaneous thermal efficiency of nth flexible PVT-TEC collector to investigate its effect on the nth flexible PVT-TEC collector performance. Numerical computations have been carried out for a given coldest climatic condition of Srinagar, India and design parameters of Al-based PVT-TEC collectors using MATLAB R2021b. Based on numerical computations, following conclusions have been drawn: For case (a) (all flexible PVT-TEC collectors are connected in parallel), the daily overall exergy is 2.7 kW which is 21.3% more than case (d) (All flexible PVT-TEC collectors are connected in series).There is a drop of 20% in mass flow rate factor due to correction factor.