Parametric studies of an active solar water heating system with various types of PVT collectors

Abstract

This study simulated active photovoltaic thermal solar collectors (PV/T) for hot water production using TRNSYS. The PV/T collectors consist of the amorphous, monocrystalline and polycrystalline. The long-term performances for the glazed and unglazed PV/T collectors were also evaluated. In this simulation, the design parameters used were collector area of 4 m 2, collector slope angle of 15 degree and mass flow rate to the collector area ratio of 8–20 kg/hm 2. In addition the tank height between 0.9 m to 1.1 m for unglazed PV/T collectors and 0.9 m to 1 m for glazed collectors, as well as the storage tank volume between 200 and 300 L has been used. The climate parameters used were solar radiation levels range of 4–4.9 kWh/m 2, the mean ambient temperature in the range of 25–28 ∘C. The results of the simulation indicated that there was an increase in solar fraction and electrical power output of the active PV/T hot water system.