In this study, integrated photovoltaic thermal roofing system has been successfully built and tested to improve the photovoltaic efficiency as well as providing domestic hot water supply. The major components of the solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) collector in this study comprise of amorphous silicon solar cells arranged in series that were adhered to the roofing structure. Unified structure of copper tube absorbers with oscillatory flow configuration was attached to the back plate which was insulated with glass wool from the surrounding. The entire PV/T collector has been mounted on a manual two degree solar tracker that can be adjusted toward the exposure of maximum solar irradiation. The effect of altering parameters such as water mass flow rate and irradiance on the collector's efficiencies has been carried out. The combined efficiency including photovoltaic and thermal efficiencies varies from 70.53% to 81.5% in the PV/T system with the oscillatory flow configuration. The present study has shown better results in terms of PV/T efficiency in comparison with the prior corresponding experiments.
Employing optical fibres for transferring concentrated radiation from solar concentrators has potential advantages in terms of transmission energy efficiency, technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness compared to a conventional heat transfer system employing heat exchangers and a heat transfer fluid. The basic investigated system comprised a broadband source, collimator lens, objective lens and optical fibre as the carrier of energy to the receiver. The relationship between transmission and length of fibre is studied via simulation using the ray tracing model, LightTools®. Two different sources were defined in the system setup including a white light source and the solar simulator with similar spectral distribution as solar spectrum. The effects on transmission of varying the hydroxyl content, and the core size of the fibres are also investigated experimentally. The experimental results are then compared with simulations. The initial results indicate that the selected low OH unjacketed bulk fibre with NA=0.22 is capable of transmitting approximately 92% of the concentrated solar energy over lengths up to 10 m with less loss compared to conventional methods for direct transferring of concentrated solar radiation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.