Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

A detailed thermal-electrical model of three photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T)

hybrid air collectors and photovoltaic (PV) module: Comparative study
under Algiers climatic conditions
Mohamed El Amine Slimani a,⇑, Madjid Amirat a, Ildikó Kurucz b, Sofiane Bahria a,c,
Abderrahmane Hamidat c, Wafa Braham Chaouch d
a
Theoretical and Applied Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Energetic and Fluid Mechanics, University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), 16111
Algiers, Algeria
b
Department of Finance and Accounting, Budapest Business School, 1149 Budapest, Hungary
c
Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), 16340 Algiers, Algeria
d
Unité de Recherche en Energies Renouvelables en Millieu Saharien, Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), 01000 Adrar, Algeria

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The thermal photovoltaic hybrid collector is a genuine cogeneration technology; it can produce electricity
Received 3 August 2016 and heat simultaneously. In this paper, a comparative study is presented between four solar device con-
Received in revised form 9 October 2016 figurations: photovoltaic module (PV-I), conventional hybrid solar air collector (PV/T-II), glazed hybrid
Accepted 14 October 2016
solar air collector (PV/T-III) and glazed double-pass hybrid solar air collector (PV/T-IV). A numerical
Available online 16 November 2016
model is developed and validated through experimental results indicated in the previous literature.
The numerical model takes the heat balance equations and different thermal and electrical parameters
Keywords:
into account for each configuration included in this study, the energy performances are evaluated with
Cogeneration
Conversion
a sample weather data of Algiers site. The numerical results show that the daily average of overall energy
Efficiency efficiency reaches: 29.63%, 51.02%, 69.47% and 74% for the first (PV-I), the second (PV/T-II), the third
PV/T hybrid collector (PV/T-III) and the fourth (PV/T-IV) configurations respectively. These values are obtained with an air flow
Numerical model of 0.023 kg/s and introducing a sample of experimental weather data collected in Algiers site for a sunny
Photovoltaic module day in summer.
Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction electron-hole recombination, leading to a drop in electrical conver-

The thermal photovoltaic hybrid collector (PV/T) combines both
solar energy conversion processes; solar thermal conversion and
solar photovoltaic conversion, making it possible to produce elec-
tricity and heat simultaneously from solar radiation. It enables a
real energy cogeneration system to exploit the electricity and the
heat produced. This energy cogeneration obviously makes an inter-
esting use in various areas such as housing, industry and agricul-
ture. Hybrid collectors are characterized by their geometrical
configuration and the type of working fluid flowing in; gas (air,
steam . . .), liquid (water, nano-fluid . . .) or refrigerant fluid (with
phase change). With high values of solar radiation and in absence
of a source of cooling, the temperature of the solar cells will
increase significantly due to the photon-matter interactions. This
high temperature affects the motion of electrons and provokes an
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mslimani@usthb.dz (M.E.A. Slimani).
sion efficiency. This time, the loss in electrical power can expected
to be more than 15%. Hence, a cooling system is needed to stabilize
the production of electrical power in forced or natural convection
and obtain useful thermal energy used in various applications at
the same time.
The history of hybrid collectors began with the work of Wolf
Kern and Russell in the 70s [1]. Indeed huge work has been done
in recent years to develop and improve the efficiency of PV/T
hybrid systems. The structure or the geometrical design of a pho-
tovoltaic/thermal hybrid collector plays an interesting role that
can have a decisive factor on its energy conversion efficiency. Sev-
eral research studies have been performed to show how different
structures and geometric configurations of the PV/T hybrid collec-
tor, can affect the electrical and thermal conversion efficiencies
and consequently the overall energy efficiency.
The performance evaluation of both glazed and unglazed PV/T
water systems have been investigated by Chow et al. [2] in terms
of energy and exergy efficiencies for Hong Kong climates.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2016.10.066
0196-8904/Ó 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 459

Nomenclature

AM air mass
CPC compound parabolic concentrator Greek symbols
DC direct current g efficiency
MPP maximum power point k thermal conductivity (W m 1 K 1)
PV photovoltaic s transmissivity
PV/T photovoltaic/thermal a absorptivity
RMS root mean square q density (kg m 3)
SRC standard rating conditions c ideality factor
e emissivity
1
Symbols b packing factor, temperature coefficient (K )
1 1
Ci specific heat capacity of a component i (J kg K ) h tilt angle
Cf the conversion factor of thermal power plant
DH hydraulic diameter (m) Subscripts
li thickness of a component i (m) a, amb ambient
hc conductive heat transfer coefficient (W m 2 K 1) af fluid in above duct
hr radiative heat transfer coefficient (W m 2 K 1) c solar cell, collector
hv convective heat transfer coefficient (W m 2 K 1) ele electrical
G solar irradiance (W m 2) f fluid (air)
Gr Grashof number lf fluid in lower duct
I current (A) g glass, glazing, gap
L length (m) gc glass cover
W width (m) gr ground
Mi mass of a component i (kg) in insulator
m_ mass flow rate (kg s 1) mp, mpp maximum power point
Pr Prandtl number p plate
n data number ph photo-generated
Nu Nusselt number oc open circuit
Q u;ele useful electric power (W) s series
Qu,th useful thermal power (W) sc short circuit
Ra Rayleigh number sh shunt
Re Reynolds number t tedlar
S collector area (m2) th thermal
T temperature of a component i (°C) u useful
t time (s) w wind
V voltage (V) ref reference conditions
V velocity (m s 1)

A comparative study of three configurations of hybrid PV/T air
solar collector: unglazed hybrid photovoltaic/thermal tiles, glazed
hybrid photovoltaic/thermal tiles and conventional hybrid photo-
voltaic/thermal air collectors, has been done by Agrawal and Tiwari
[3]. The performance of four configurations of photovoltaic/ther-
mal air collector has been studied theoretically by Hegazy [4]
based on the energy balance concept. In these designs the air
flows: above the absorber (first configuration), below the absorber
(second configuration), on both sides of the absorber as single pass
(third configuration) and on both sides of the absorber as double
pass (fourth configuration). An experimental and theoretical study
of a hybrid solar air collector naturally and mechanically ventilated
has been presented by Tiwari et al. [5] under a set climatic condi-
tion of New Delhi. Tiwari and Sodha [6] have performed a numer-
ical simulation to evaluate the overall performance of unglazed
and glazed hybrid PV/T air collectors with and without tedlar layer
for composite climate in the site (New Delhi). Joshi et al. [7] have
compared the thermal performance of a glass-to-tedlar PV/T air
collector to a glass-to-glass PV/T air collector and have shown that
a glass-to-glass PV/T air collector had a better thermal perfor-
mance than a glass-to-tedlar PV/T air collector. Mortezapour
et al. [8] have presented analytically and experimentally the per-
formance evaluation of two configurations of hybrid PV/T air col-
lectors; a glass to glass and a glass to Tedlar. Each collector is
with two air passages; above and below the PV Module. The influ-
ence of the air flow on the efficiency of the hybrid collector has also
been studied. A configuration of a double-pass hybrid sensor pro-
vided with a metal plate for solar drying applications has been
studied and analyzed under the meteorological conditions of
Algiers, Algeria by Slimani et al. [9]. This configuration of PV/T air
collector has been compared to the conventional configuration of
hybrid collector (with single-passe) in terms of efficiency. An ener-
getic and exergetic analysis of a new configuration of hybrid collec-
tor CPVT (Concentrating PVT collectors) was realized and studied
by Calise et al. [10] where the hybrid collector consists essentially
of: an absorber, a PV layer, a fluid duct and a solar concentrating
system. An exergy and environmental study has been made for
three different configurations of PV/T hybrid collector based on
the usage of nano-fluid as a coolant by Hassani et al. [11]. The
PV/T hybrid system is glazed by one and three additional cover
glass. A theoretical exergy analysis of the life cycle was made for
the three configurations of the nano-fluid-based hybrid PV/T sys-
tem. The optical effect of nano-fluid was also considered on the life
cycle exergy. The performances of the developed systems were
compared to the standard PV and PV/T systems. A glazed and an
unglazed inverted absorber partially covered PV/T compound para-
bolic concentrator collector (PV/T-CPC) system have been studied
by Atheaya et al. [12] and they compared this system with the par-
tially covered inclined PVT compound parabolic concentrator and
the partially covered horizontal PVT compound parabolic concen-
trator water collector systems. A configuration of dual channel
semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (DCSPVT) module has been
460 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

analyzed by an energetic and exergetic point of view by Singh et al.

[13,14]. This configuration has been also compared with a single
channel semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (DCSPVT) module.
After the analysis of the previous work on the configurations of
the hybrid solar air collectors, it will be very interesting to prove
how the addition of: an supplementary glass cover with a stagnant
air above the PV module, an absorbent plate above the thermal
insulation and the double air circulation below and above the PV
module, may influence the electrical and thermal behaviors of a
hybrid solar air collector. In this study, the single PV module and
the conventional hybrid collector are considered as references. At
the same time, the assessment of electrical and thermal perfor-
mance of the four solar devices: photovoltaic module (PV-I), con-
ventional solar PV/T air collector (PV/T-II), glazed solar PV/T air
collector (PV/T-III) and glazed double-pass solar PV/T air collector
(PV/T-IV) is taken into consideration for a sample weather condi-
tion of Algiers, Algeria.

2. System description

The hybrid collector systems presented in this study are based

on the usage of a monocrystalline photovoltaic module UDTS50
type (Fig. 1) provided with air duct(s). The hybrid collectors basi-
cally consist of the following components:

 A photovoltaic module ‘‘UDTS50”, which consists of the follow-

ing elements:
 Photovoltaic cells immersed in a polymer layer EVA
(Ethylene-Vynil-Acetate).
 A protective glass layer for PV cells (glass-cover).
 A protective layer of Tedlar below PV cells.
 Additional glass cover (glazing for PV/T-III and PV/T-IV
configurations).
 Air duct (single-pass for PV/T-II and PV/T-III and double-pass for
PV/T-IV).
 An absorbent black plate above the thermal insulator (for the
PV/T-III and PV/T-IV configurations).
 A thermal insulator to minimize the back and the lateral heat
losses in the hybrid air collector.

When solar radiation reaches the solar cells, a part of it will be

reflected (about 15%) to the ambient environment and the other
part of it (about 85%) will be absorbed by the photovoltaic cells.
Under the best conditions, the photovoltaic cells transform 12–
14% (for UDTS50 module) of this absorbed solar radiation to elec-
tricity. The remaining percentage in case of this absorption is
transformed into heat dissipated in the components of the PV mod-
ule. This heat has the effect to increase the recombination phenom-
ena of electron-hole at the level of PV cells and consequently lower
the electrical productivity of the PV module. The PV module
requires a cooling in this case. The proposed configurations of Fig. 1. Photograph of UDTS50 photovoltaic module, mono-crystalline type.
the hybrid collector are with the purpose of cooling the PV module
and simultaneously recover the heat dissipated therein. The third
configuration (PV/T-III) of the hybrid collector is provided with 3. Mathematical modeling
an additional glass cover with closed air between this cover and
the PV module to see the effect of the glazing on the thermal and 3.1. Electrical model
electrical behavior of the PV/T collector. The fourth configuration
(PV/T-IV) is also provided with an additional cover glass but this In this study the electrical modeling of the studied system is
case with two air channels; one below the PV module and the other based on the single diode model of photovoltaic modules, in which
one below it, this configuration is designed to increase the heat five electrical parameters derive the electrical behavior of the solar
exchange surface between the PV module and the fluid gaining device. The intensity of the solar radiation and the temperature of
the maximum heat as a consequence. The PV/T-III and PV/T-IV con- the solar cells are always decisive factors on the produced electri-
figurations are provided with a black plate to lower the module cal power and lead the electrical performance of the hybrid
temperature through heat exchange by radiation. collector.
Fig. 2 shows the schematic cross-sectional view of the solar The equivalent electrical circuit of PV module (or PV/T collector)
devices and their material components. is shown in Fig. 3. This electrical circuit can be translated to an
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 461

Tedlar Glass Cover Solar Cell

(PV-I)

Air duct

Insulation

(PV/T-II)
Glazing

Closed space

Metal plate Air duct

(PV/T-III)

Above duct

Lower duct

(PV/T-IV)

Fig. 2. Schematic cross-sectional view of: photovoltaic module (PV-I), basic solar PV/T air collector (PV/T-II), glazed solar PV/T air collector (PV/T-III) and glazed double-pass
solar PV/T air collector (PV/T-IV).

V þ IRs V þ IRs

 
equation called current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and written
I ¼ Iph I0 exp q 1 ð1Þ
as Eq. (1). NcKT c Rsh
According to the equivalent electrical circuit of a PV module,
taking an electric model with a single diode, the I–V characteristic where I, V, Iph, I0,Rs and Rsh are respectively: the current at load, the
can be written as follows: voltage at load, the light current or photo-generated current, the
diode reverse saturation current, the series resistance, the shunt
resistance and the modified ideality factor.
N, c, K and q are the number of cells connected by series in PV
module, the ideality factor (about 1.2 for mono-crystalline silicon),
I
Boltzmann’s constant and electron charge, respectively.
From current-voltage characteristic curve and Eq. (1), several
+ electrical parameters of the PV module are drawn:

V  The diode reverse saturation current I0;

I
I0 ¼ Vph ð2Þ
- exp co
a
1

Fig. 3. Equivalent electrical circuit of a PV module. where a ¼ NcqKT c , is the modified ideality factor.
462 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

 The short-circuit current I = Isc at V = 0; at the maximum power point (Vm) and at the open-circuit (Vco),
the maximum power point (Pm, MPP), the derivatives of the elec-
Rsh Rsh Isc Rs

 
Isc ¼ Iph I0 exp 1 ð3Þ tric power at short circuit dV

dP 
¼ Isc , and at MPP dV

dP 
, the
Rsh þ Rs Rsh þ Rs a sc m

dI 
With Rsh  Rs, Eq. (3) can be written as: derivatives of the current at short-circuit dV sc and at MPP

dI 
Isc Rs . It is noted that the derivatives of the current and the elec-

 
dV m
Isc ¼ Iph I0 exp 1 ð4Þ
a tric power at the open circuit point tends towards the infinite

dI 

dP 
NcKTc ! 1 and dV !1 .
where a ¼ q
, is the modified ideality factor. dV oc oc

 The open-circuit voltage V = Vco at I = 0; The variations of the current at load I(G, Tc) and the voltage at
load V(G, Tc) can be given by the following equations using the ref-
V co

 
V co ¼ Rsh Iph I0 Rsh exp 1 ð5Þ erence conditions [15–17]:
a
G G

 
 
IðG; T c Þ ¼ Iref þ bI ðT c T c;ref Þ þ 1 Isc;ref ð9Þ
 The maximum power point I = Imp, V = Vmp at dP/dV = 0; Gref Gref
" 
dI 
! #
1 þ dV

V mp þ Imp Rs

Iph I0 V mp
mp
þ 1 exp 1 VðG; T c Þ ¼ V ref þ bV ðT c T c;ref Þ R s DI ð10Þ
a a
 where bI, bV are the temperature coefficients of the current and the
dI 
V mp Rs dV mp
þ 1 þ Imp Rs voltage, respectively.
¼0 ð6Þ The parameters a, I0, Eg, Iph, Vco, Isc are determined using the ref-
Rsh
erence conditions by the following equations [15–21]:
1
 The shunt resistance ¼ ½dI=dVŠsc .
Rsh aðT c Þ Tc
¼ ð11Þ
aref T c;ref


dI  Rs Isc Rs 1

 
I0 exp þ1 ¼ ð7aÞ
dV sc Rsh a Rsh 0 h i1
Tc
I0 ðT c Þ


Tc
3 Eg ðT c Þ 1 T c;ref
With Rsh  Rs, Eq. (7a) can be written as: ¼ exp @ A ð12Þ
I0;ref T c;ref aðT c Þ
dI  Isc Rs 1



1 I0 exp ¼ ð7bÞ
dV sc a Rsh agap T 2c
Eg ðT c Þ ¼ Eg;ref ð13Þ
From Eq. (7a), the resistance Rsh can be also written as: bgap þ T c

Rs

G

Rsh ¼ ð8Þ Iph ðG; T c Þ ¼ Iph;ref þ bI ðT c T c;ref Þ ð14Þ
I0 exp IscaRs
 
Gref

G


Fig. 4 shows a representation of the current-voltage and power- Isc ðG; T c Þ ¼ Isc;ref þ bI ðT c T c;ref Þ ð15Þ
voltage characteristics (I-V and P-V, left) and their derivative Gref
 dI dP

dV
and dV ; right . This figure gives a qualitative estimate of sev-
G


eral important electrical parameters such as: the currents at the V co ðG; T c Þ ¼ V co;ref þ a ln þ bV ðT c T c;ref Þ ð16Þ
maximum power point (Im) and at short-circuit (Isc), the voltages Gref

MPP
I-V
P-V

Fig. 4. Qualitative presentation of I-V and P-V characteristics curves and their derivatives.
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 463

where the parameters; Tc,ref, Gref, aref, I0,ref, Eg,ref, Iph,ref, Vco,ref, Isc,ref are  The nodal approach is taken into consideration (the tempera-
at the reference conditions: temperature of PV cells, solar radiation, ture of each layer of the solar device is considered spatially
modified ideality factor, diode current, band gap energy, the light constant).
current, open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current.  The thermo-physical parameters of each solid layer of solar
The factors agap and bgap are constant for band gap energy, device are taken as constant.
which are fitting parameters of the semiconductor [22,23].  The thermal losses on the lateral sides have been neglected.
Two important parameters that can examine the electrical  The fluid velocity is considered invariable on the length, the
behavior of a photovoltaic module: the form factor (FF) and the width and depth of air duct.
electrical efficiency. The evaluation of these electrical parameters  The ohmic losses in photovoltaic cells are neglected.
strongly depends on the electric power generated by the PV  The pressure losses in the fluid ducts are neglected.
module.  The radiative heat transfer between the solar device and the
ground is overlooked.
Pm
FF ¼ ð17Þ
Icc V co To predict the temperatures of each solar device and determine
their thermal and electrical performances, the energy conservation
Pm FFIcc V co principle is used for each component, which can be generally
gel ¼ ¼ ð18Þ
GS GS translated by the following equation.
where Pm is the maximum power generated by the photovoltaic dT i X X
module. Mi C i ¼ Qi Qi ð21Þ
dt in ou
The electrical power generated by the photovoltaic module
depends on the operating conditions such as: the temperature of where
the photovoltaic cells and the intensity of solar radiation. In terms Mi Ci dT i
is the energy stored or generated in the component i.
of parameters and reference conditions, the electric power and effi- P dt
in Q i is the sum of received energies by the component i through
ciency can be written as follows [21,24,25]: the conduction, convection and radiation heat exchanges.
ou Q i is the sum of the lost energies by the component i through
P
G


Pel ¼ V m;ref Im;ref 1 bP ðT c T c;ref Þ þ d ln ð19Þ the conduction, convection and radiation heat exchanges.
Gref
3.2.1. Photovoltaic module (PV-I)
G


gel ¼ gref 1 bP ðT c T c;ref Þ þ d ln ð20Þ In this work the studied photovoltaic module is composed of: a
Gref cover glass, solar cells and a tedlar layer. Table 2 summarizes its
design parameters.
where bp and d are the temperature coefficient of electrical power
The heat balance equation for each component of the photo-
and solar radiation coefficient.
voltaic module can be written as follows:
The electrical parameters at the reference conditions of the PV
For the glass cover
module used in this study are shown in Table 1. Some of these
parameters are given by Ref. [26]. dT g
Mg C g ¼ Am ½ag G þ hr;sky g ðT sky T g Þ þ hv ;a ðT a TgÞ
The curves of current-voltage and power-voltage characteristics dt
for monocristalline UDTS50 module at Standard Test Conditions hc;gc c ðT g T c ފ ð22Þ
(STC); Air Mass = 1.5, R = 1000 W/m2 and Tcell = 25 °C are shown
in Fig. 5. The equivalent temperature of the sky is given by the relation
[27–29]
3.2. Thermal model T sky ¼ 0:0552T 1:5
a ð23Þ

The thermal modeling of the studied system is based on the The radiative heat transfer coefficient between the glass cover
heat balance equations (energy conservation principle) for each of PV module and the sky can be given by the following correlation
component of the solar device. For this, set assumptions have been [27,30]:
taken into account:
T 2g T 2sky T 2c þ T 2sky
hr;sky g ¼ reg ð24Þ
ðT g TaÞ
Table 1
The electrical parameters of the PV module ‘‘USTS50” at standard test conditions The conductive heat transfer is made through the adjacent com-
(STC). ponents of the solar device. The heat transfer coefficient in this
Parameter Value case is expressed between two neighboring components i and j
by the following relationship:
PV module type Monocrystalline silicon UDTS50
li lj


The cells number, N 12  3
The short-circuit current, Isc,ref 3.18 A hc;i j ¼1 þ ð25Þ
ki kj
The open-circuit voltage, Voc,ref 21.6 V
The current at MPP, Imp,ref 2.9 A
The convective heat coefficient due to the wind is described by
The voltage at MPP, Vmp,ref 17.5 V
The maximum power, Pm,ref 50 W
the following relation [31–34]:
The electrical conversion efficiency, gref 12%
hv ;a ¼ 5:7 þ 3:8V w ð26Þ
The fill factor, FFref 70.8%
The diode reverse saturation current, I0 5.021  10 8 A For the solar PV cells
Band gap energy, Eg 1.2 eV
The ideality factor, c 1.2 dT c
The series resistance, Rs 0.25 X Mc C c ¼ Am ½sg ac Gb hc;c g ðT c TgÞ hc;c t ðT c T t ފ Q u;ele
dt
The shunt resistance, Rsh 198.1 X
The modified ideality factor, a 1.016 J/C
ð27Þ
464 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

3.5 55
50
3.0
45

2.5 40
35
Current (A)

Power (W)
2.0
30

1.5 25
20
1.0 15
10
0.5
5
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22

Voltage (V)

Fig. 5. Representation of a current–voltage and power-voltage characteristics curve for USTS50 module at RSC conditions.

Table 2 Table 3
The design and the thermo-physical parameters of the studied PV module ‘‘UDTS50”. The design parameters of the conventional PV/T air collector.

Parameters Value Parameters Value

The length of the PV module, Lm 1.28 m The length of air duct and hybrid collector, Lc 1.28 m
The width of the PV module, Wm 0.32 m The width of air duct and hybrid collector, Wc 0.30 m
The module area, Am 1.28  0.32 m2 The horizontal area of air duct and collector area, Ac 1.28  0.30 m2
The thickness of glass cover, lg 0.0032 m Report duct area/PV module area, f = Ac/Am 0.984
The heat conductivity of glass cover, kg 1 W/m K The depth of air duct, llf 0.02 m
The absorptivity of glass cover, ag 0.06 The thermal insulator thickness, lin 0.05 m
The transmissivity of glass cover, sg 0.84 The thermal conductivity of insulator, kin 0.035 W/m K
The emissivity of glass cover, eg 0.93
The thickness of solar cell, lc 0.0003 m All other parameters of PV module are given in Table 2.
The absorptivity of solar cell, ac 0.85
The heat conductivity of solar cell, kc 0.036 W/m K
The thickness of Tedlar, lt 0.0005 m For the Tedlar layer
The heat conductivity of Tedlar, kt 0.033 W/m K
The absorptivity of Tedlar, at 0.8 dT t
The packing factor, b 0.88
Mt C t ¼ Am ½sv at Gð1 bÞ þ hc;c t ðT c TtÞ hv ;f t fðT t Tf Þ
dt
The temperature coefficient, bP 0.0045
hr;in t fðT t T in ފ ð32Þ
The thermal power conversion factor, Cf 0.36
The solar radiation coefficient, d 0.052
The radiative heat transfer coefficient between two parallel flat
plates is determined by the following equation [34,35]:

Using Eq. (20), the electrical power which can be generated by ðT i þ T j Þ T 2i þ T 2j

the photovoltaic module is given by the following relation. hr;i j ¼r 1
ð33Þ
ei þ e1j 1
G


Q u;ele ¼ GAm gref 1 bP ðT c T c;ref Þ þ d ln ð28Þ For the air flowing in the duct
Gref
For the Tedlar layer
dT f
_ f Cf
m ¼ W c hv ;f t ðT t Tf Þ hv ;f in ðT f T in Þ ð34aÞ
dx
dT t
Mt C t ¼ Am ½sv at Gð1 bÞ þ hc;c t ðT c TtÞ hv ;a ðT t T a ފ ð29Þ Eq. (34a) can be written in the form dT þ TA ¼ B, the solution of this
dt dx
differential equation form is given as T ¼ AB þ Ce Ax . Using the bound-
ary conditions, x = 0, Tf = Tf,in, the air temperature can be written as:
3.2.2. Conventional photovoltaic/thermal collector (PV/T-II)
The conventional hybrid PV/T collector is constituted mainly of:
"
W m ðhv ;f t þhv ;f in Þ
ðT t hv ;f t þ T in hv ;f in Þ

m_ Cp x
a PV module and an air duct above a thermal insulator. Table 3 T f ðxÞ ¼ T f ;in e f
ðhv ;f t þ hv ;f in Þ
summarizes its design parameters.
ðT t hv ;f t þ T in hv ;f in Þ

The heat balance equations in the conventional hybrid collector þ ð34bÞ
can be translated by the following equations: ðhv ;f t þ hv ;f in Þ
For the glass cover
where Tf,in is the air inlet temperature, assuming it is the same as
dT g the environment (Ta).
Mg C g ¼ Am ½ag G þ hr;g sky ðT sky T g Þ þ hv ;a ðT a TgÞ
dt The convective heat transfer coefficient in the air duct is deter-
hc;g c ðT g T c ފ ð30Þ mined by using the following relation:

For the PV solar cells NuK f

hv ;f ¼ ð35Þ
DH
dT c
Mc C c ¼ Am ½sg ac Gb hc;c g ðT c TgÞ hc;c t ðT c T t ފ Q u;ele where Nu and DH are the Nusselt number and the hydraulic diam-
dt
ð31Þ eter respectively. The Nusselt number in turbulent flow can be cal-
culated by the following correlation [36–39]:
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 465

Nu ¼ 0:023Re0:8 Pr0:4 ð36Þ Where Ra is the Rayleigh number, which can be given as:

where Re and Pr are the Reynolds number and the Prandtl number
gbL3 DT gbL3 DT
respectively, which can be given by the following relations: Ra ¼ GrPr ¼ Pr ¼ ð43Þ
m2f mf a
q DH
Re ¼ f V ð37Þ
lf f where g, b, L, mf and a are the acceleration of gravity, the volume
coefficient of expansion, the characteristic length (lcf), the kinematic
lf viscosity and the thermal diffusivity Kf
, respectively. All fluid
Pr ¼ Cf ð38Þ qf Cf
Kf
proprieties are estimated at the wall mean temperature of the rect-
For the thermal insulator angular cavity
Tbg þTtg
.
2
dT in In the Rayleigh number, DT is calculated as: (Ttg Tcf) for the
M in C in ¼ Ac hr;t in ðT t T in Þ þ hv ;f in ðT f T in Þ hv ;a ðT in T aÞ
dt exchange fluid-top glass cover and (Tbg Tcf) for the exchange
ð39Þ fluid-bottom glass cover.
For the bottom glass cover (the glass cover of PV module)
3.2.3. Glazed photovoltaic/thermal collector (PV/T-III) dT bg h
Mg C g ¼ Am a2g G þ hr;bg tg ðT tg T bg Þ þ hv ;gc cf ðT cf T bg Þ
The glazed PV/T collector is constituted mainly of a PV module, dt
an air duct below the PV module, an additional glass cover over the hc;bg c ðT bg T c Þ ð44Þ
PV module with an enclosed air space. Table 4 summarizes its
design parameters. For the PV solar cells
The heat balance equations for each component of the glazed dT c h i
PV/T collector can be written as follows: Mc C c ¼ Am s2g ac Gb hc;c bg ðT c T bg Þ hc;c t ðT c TtÞ Q u;ele
dt
For the top glass cover (the additional glass cover) ð45Þ
dT tg For the Tedlar layer
Mg C g ¼ Am ag G þ hr;g sky ðT sky T tg Þ þ hr;tg bg ðT bg T tg Þ
dt
hv ;tg cf ðT tg T cf Þ þ hv ;a ðT a T tg Þ ð40Þ dT t h
Mt C t ¼ Am s2g at Gð1 bÞ þ hc;c t ðT c TtÞ fhv ;f t ðT t Tf Þ
dt
For the air closed in glazing space: fhr;p t ðT t T p Þ ð46Þ
dT cf For the air flowing below the PV module
M cf C cf ¼ Am hv ;cf bg ðT bg T cf Þ hv ;cf tg ðT cf T tg Þ ð41Þ
dt
In case of natural convection made in a tilted rectangular cavity, dT f
_ f Cf
m ¼ W c ½hv ;f t ðT t Tf Þ hv ;f p ðT f T p ފ ð47aÞ
the correlation of Nusselt number is used reported by Hollands dx
et al. [40]. The convective heat transfer coefficient in the closed The air temperature along the duct of the glazed hybrid PV/T
air space can be calculated by Eq. (35). This correlation is valid with collector can be written as:
the following criteria of rectangular cavity; tilt angle h 6 70° and "
#
 W c ðhv ;f t þhv ;f p Þ
H/L P 12 [34–36,40–42]. ðT t hv ;f t þ T p hv ;f p Þ m_ C x ðT t hv ;f t þ T p hv ;f p Þ
T f ðxÞ ¼ T f ;in e f f þ
þ ðhv ;f t þ hv ;f p Þ ðhv ;f t þ hv ;f p Þ
Kf Kf 1708
 

hv ;cf ¼ Nu ¼ 1 þ 1:44 1 ð47bÞ
lcf lcf Ra cos h
!þ #
1 For the absorber plate
!#
1:6
ðsin 1:8hÞ Ra cos h 3


 1 1708 þ 1
Ra cos h 5830 dT p
Mp C p ¼ Ac ½hc;p in ðT in TpÞ hv ;lf p ðT p T lf Þ hr;p t ðT p T t ފ
ð42Þ dt
ð48Þ
For this correlation, the terms with the sign (+) mean that only
For the thermal insulator
positive values are taken into account (i.e. if negative, the 0 is
used). dT in
Min C in ¼ Ac ½hc;in p ðT p T in Þ hv ;a ðT in T a ފ ð49Þ
dt
Table 4
The design parameters of the glazed PV/T air collector with single pass. 3.2.4. Glazed double-pass photovoltaic/thermal collector (PV/T-IV)
Parameters Value
The glazed double-pass PV/T collector is constituted mainly of a
PV module, two air ducts; below and above the PV module. Table 5
The length of air duct and hybrid collector, Lc 1.28 m
summarizes its design parameters.
The width of air duct and hybrid collector, Wc 0.30 m
The horizontal area of air duct and collector area, Ac 1.28  0.30 m2 The heat balance equations for each component of the glazed
Report duct area/PV module area, f = Ac/Am 0.984 double-pass collector can be written as follows:
The depth of air duct, llf 0.02 m For the top glass cover
The depth confined air space, lcf 0.02 m
The thermal conductivity of the additional glass cover, kg 1 W/m K dT tg
The absorptivity of the additional glass cover, ag 0.06 Mg C g ¼ Am ½ag G þ hr;tg sky ðT sky T tg Þ þ hr;tg bg ðT bg T tg Þ
dt
The transmissivity of the additional glass cover, sg 0.84
The emissivity of the additional glass cover, eg 0.93 þ hv ;a ðT a T tg Þ hv ;tg af ðT tg T af ފ ð50Þ
The thickness of absorber plat, lp 0.002 m
The thermal conductivity of absorber plat, kp 250 W/m K
For the air flowing in above channel
The absorptivity of absorber plat, ap 0.95 dT af
The emissivity of absorber, ep 0.25 _ f C af
m ¼ W m ½hv ;af bg ðT bg T af Þ hv ;af tg ðT af T tg ފ ð51aÞ
dx
All design parameters of other components are given in Tables 2 and 3.
466 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

The spatial distribution of air temperature in this channel is _ f Cf

m
gth ¼ ðT of T f ;in Þ ð61Þ
given by: Am G
"
W m ðhv ;af bg þhv ;af tg Þ
ðT bg hv ;af þ T tg hv ;af tg Þ

bg m_ C x
T af ðxÞ ¼ T lf ðLÞ e f af
3.3. Numerical resolution
ðhv ;af bg þ hv ;af tg Þ

ðT bg hv ;af bg þ T tg hv ;af tg Þ

þ ð51bÞ To evaluate the electrical and the thermal performance of the
ðhv ;af bg þ hv ;af tg Þ four solar devices proposed in this study, a detailed thermo-
where Tlf(L) is the outlet air temperature from the lower channel, electric numerical model has been made in terms of energy equa-
which is written as follows: tion balances, design parameters and weather data. This numerical
model is developed and elaborated in the MATLAB language
"
W c ðhv ;lf t þhv ;lf p Þ (Matlab-R2012a). From the numerical simulation, several electrical
ðT t hv ;lf þ T p hv ;lf p Þ

t L
T lf ðLÞ ¼ T f ;in e m_ C
f lf and thermal parameters can be calculated for each configuration
ðhv ;lft þ hv ;lf p Þ such as: the component temperatures, the electrical and thermal
ðT t hv ;lf t þ T p hv ;lf p Þ
powers, the electrical and thermal efficiencies, the short-circuit

þ ð53Þ current, the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor.
ðhv ;lf t þ hv ;lf p Þ

For the bottom glass cover

4. Validation setup
dT bg
Mg C g ¼ Am ½a2g G þ hr;bg tg ðT tg T bg Þ þ hv ;bg af ðT af T bg Þ
dt The numerical simulation model developed in this study has
hc;bg c ðT bg T c ފ ð54Þ been validated with results made by Joshi et al. [7], at the same
time are compared with the numerical simulation results found
For the PV solar cells by Joshi et al. [7] and Sarhaddi et al. [15]. The solar device is a con-
dT c ventional hybrid PV/T air collector based on the usage of a mono-
Mc C c ¼ Am ½s2g ac Gb hc;c bg ðT c T bg Þ hc;c t ðT c T t ފ Q u;ele cristalline photovoltaic module type ‘‘Siemens SP75”. The electrical
dt
capacity of this PV module reaches 75 W at the standard rating
ð55Þ
conditions. The design parameters of the conventional PV/T air sys-
For the Tedlar layer tem are given in Table 6.
The hybrid PV/T air collector consisting of two photovoltaic
dT t h
Mt C t ¼ Am s2g at Gð1 bÞ þ hc;c t ðT c TtÞ hv ;lf t fðT t T lf Þ modules electrically connected in parallel has been experimentally
dt
hr;p t fðT t T p Þ ð56Þ
Table 5
For the air flowing in lower channel The design parameters of the glazed double-pass PV/T air collector.

dT lf Parameters Value
_ f C bf
m ¼ W c ½hv ;lf t ðT t T lf Þ hv ;lf p ðT lf T p ފ ð56aÞ
dx The length of air duct and hybrid collector, Lc 1.28 m
The temperature distribution along this channel is given by: The width of air duct and hybrid collector, Wc 0.30 m
The horizontal area of air duct and collector area, Ac 1.28  0.30 m2
Report duct area/PV module area, f = Ac/Am 0.984
"
W c ðhv ;lf t þhv ;lf p Þ
ðT t hv ;lf þ T p hv ;lf p Þ

t m_ C x
T lf ðxÞ ¼ T f ;in e f lf The depth of lower air duct, llf 0.02 m
ðhv ;lft þ hv ;lf p Þ The depth of above air duct, laf 0.02 m

ðT t hv ;lf t þ T p hv ;lf p Þ

All design parameters of other components are given in Tables 2–4.
þ ð56bÞ
ðhv ;lf t þ hv ;lf p Þ

For the absorber plate

dT p Table 6
Mp C p ¼ Ac ½hc;p in ðT in TpÞ hv ;lf p ðT p T lf Þ hr;p t ðT p T t ފ
dt The design parameters of PV/T air collector used during the validation setup [7,48].
ð57Þ Parameters Value

For the thermal insulator PV module type Monocrystalline Siemens

SP75
dT in The length of photovoltaic module, Lm 1.2 m
M in C in ¼ Ac ½hc;in p ðT p T in Þ hv ;a ðT in T a ފ ð58Þ The width of photovoltaic module, Wm 0.527 m
dt
The number of modules (connected in parallel), Np 2
For the single PV module (PV-I), no useful thermal power is pro- PV cells number, Nc Np  36
duced. The electrical efficiency can be converted in terms of ther- The short-circuit current, Isc,ref Np  4.8 A
mal equivalent efficiency by the following relation [43–45]: The current at MPP, Imp,ref Np  4.4 A
The open-circuit voltage, Voc,ref 21.7 V
gele The voltage at MPP, Vmp,ref 17 V
gth;PV ¼ ð59Þ The electrical conversion efficiency, gref 12%
Cf
The maximum power, Pm,ref Np  75 W
So, the overall energy efficiency of a photovoltaic/thermal col- The current temperature coefficient, bI 2.06 mA/°C
The voltage temperature coefficient, bV 0.077 V/°C
lector is calculated using both thermal and electrical efficiencies
The length of air duct, Ld 1.2 m
by the following relation [46,47]: The width of air duct, Wd 0.45 m
gele The duct depth, ld 0.05 m
gov ¼ gth þ gth;PV ¼ gth þ ð60Þ The thickness of insulator, lin 0.05 m
Cf The packing factor of solar cell, bc 0.83
The conversion factor of the thermal power 0.36
where the electrical efficiency is given by Eq. (20) and the thermal plant, Cf
efficiency is calculated as:
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 467

vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
u n Xsim;i X exp;i 2
uP
t 1 X sim;i
RMSD ð%Þ ¼ 100  ð63Þ
n

Fig. 6. Photograph of experimental setup made by Joshi et al. [7].
studied by Joshi et al. [7]. The system was equipped with two DC
fans and a battery to store the electrical power generated by the
PV modules. The photograph of the experimental system is shown
in Fig. 6.
For this validation setup, the climatic conditions of the experi-
mental study shown in Fig. 7 are used in our numerical model of
simulation to evaluate and compare the energy performance of
the system.
To compare the simulated results found by the numerical model
of this study with the experimental ones noted by Joshi et al. [7],
the root mean square percent deviation (RMSD) and the mean
absolute percent error (MAE) have been quantified [49].
n 
100 X X sim;i
MAE ð%Þ ¼
n  X exp;i
1 matic data of the weather station of the Renewable Energy Devel-
Solar radiation (W/m²)
where Xsim,i, Xexp,i and n are the simulated value, the experimental
value and the data number, respectively. In the ideal cases, the val-
ues of the mean absolute error and the root mean square deviation
equal zero.
The simulated values of the cells temperature and the outlet air
temperature and their corresponding experimental values during
the test day are shown in Fig. 8. From this figure, it is observed that
there is a good concordance between the experimental graphic and
the simulated one. The values of the mean absolute percent error
(MAE) and the root mean square percent deviation (RMSD) are
3.98% and 4.52%, respectively for the outlet air temperature and
3.40% and 3.65% respectively for the PV cells temperature.
Fig. 9 shows the graphical chart of the simulated values of the
short circuit current, the open circuit voltage and the electric
power with their experimental correspondence during the test
day. The values of the mean absolute error and the root mean
square deviation are respectively; 8.68% and 12.94% for the
short-circuit current, 1.75% and 2.6% for the open circuit voltage
and 10% and 12.62% for the electric power. For these parameters
a good agreement is found between the experimental values of
these parameters and those from the numerical simulation.
As mentioned above, the simulation results founded by the
numerical model developed in this study were also examined with
other numerical simulation results. The RMSD of the outlet air
temperature, the solar cell temperature, the short circuit current,
the open circuit voltage and the electric power found by our model
were compared with those from the simulations made by Joshi
et al. [7] and Sarhaddi et al. [15] to the same parameters. Table 7
summarizes the main results obtained in the validation setup.
5. Experimental weather conditions

X exp;i 
ð62Þ The numerical simulation was done using the experimental cli-


800

600

400

200

0
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Duct air velocity (m/s)

1
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Air temperature (°C)

320

310 Ambient
Inlet
300
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 7. Experimental weather data used in the validation setup [7].

468 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

60
Tc (sim) RMSD (T c) =3.64%
55 Tc (exp) RMSD (T fo) =4.52%
Tfo (sim)
Temperature (°C)

50 Tfo (exp)

45

40

35

30
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 8. The simulated and experimental shapes of outlet air temperature and solar cells temperature during the test day.

21
Current (A) / Voltage (V)

18
I SC (sim)
15 RMSD (ISC ) =12.94%
I SC (exp)
12 RMSD (V CO) =2.06%
VCO (sim)
9
VCO (exp)
6
3
0
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00

80 RMSD (P MPP) =12.62% PMPP (sim)

Power (W)

60 PMPP (exp)
40
20
0
8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 9. The simulated and experimental chart of short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage and electrical power at the MPP during the test day.

Table 7
The mean absolute error and the root mean square deviation drawn in the validation setup.

Simulation results of present Simulation results found by Simulation results found by

models Joshi et al. [7] Sarhaddi et al. [15]
MAE (%) RMSD (%) RMSD (%) RMSD (%)
Outlet air temperature 3.98 4.52 4.66 2.37
Solar cell temperature 3.40 3.64 16.82 12.58
Short-circuit current 8.68 12.94 – 13.25
Open circuit voltage 1.75 2.06 – 2.24
Electrical power 10 12.62 – 5.3

opment Centre (CDER) Bouzaréah, Algiers, Algeria for a sunny day the ambient temperature and wind speed range between 20 and
of June 2013. The geographical coordinates of the site location are: 26 °C and 1.5–4 m/s, respectively.
latitude 36.8°N, longitude 3.12E, azimuth 20° and altitude 345 m
[50].
The measured climate data includes: the solar irradiance, the 6. Results and discussion
ambient temperature and the wind velocity. It should be noted
that the input air velocity was taken with a value of 3 m/s, which 6.1. Temperature distribution
corresponds with an air flow rate of 0.023 kg/s. the set weather
data used in the numerical simulation setup are shown in Fig. 10. Fig. 11 shows an evolution compared to component tempera-
In the sunny day, the solar radiation intensity reaches high val- tures for each configurations. The presented temperatures in this
ues, more than 900 W/m2 between 12:00 and 14:00. The values of setup are:

1000
900
800
Solar radiation (W/m²)
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0 18
7:00 8:00
5
Wind velocity (m/s)
0
7:00 8:00
Fig. 10. The experimental variations of the solar irradiance, ambient temperature and wind speed during the day of 12/06/2013.
 The temperatures of PV module components such as: glass
cover temperature (Tg, Tbg), the PV cells temperature (Tc) and
the tedlar (Tt).
 The outlet air temperature (Tf) for all configurations of PV/T air
collector.
 The absorber plate temperature (Tp) and the additional glass
cover temperature (Ttg) for the third and fourth configurations.
 The confined air temperature (Tcf) for the third configuration.
The temperatures of the PV module components are the highest
in the four configurations and much higher in the glazed PV/T air
collector (PV/T-III). The PV cells are the hottest components for
all configurations, their value reaches 54 °C, 48 °C, 60 °C and
49 °C for the PV module (PV-I), the conventional PV/T air collector
(PV/T-II), the glazed PV/T air collector (PV/T-III) and the glazed
double-pass PV/T air collector (PV/T-III), respectively.
The Addition of a glass cover above the PV module causes an
increase in the temperature of all collector components (PV/T-III
configuration). To decrease these high temperatures, a double cir-
culation of fluid is needed above the PV module (PV/T-IV configu-
ration). Indeed, in this case the fluid temperature will increase due
to the augmentation of the heat exchange surface between the
fluid and the PV module. The outlet air temperature has a mini-
mum value of 20 °C at 7h00 for each configuration of PV/T air col-
lector and reaches a maximum value of: 30.47 °C at 11h30 for the
second configuration (PV/T-II), 32.75 °C at 11h30 for the third con-
figuration (PV/T-III) and 34.69 °C at 11h30 for the fourth configura-
tion (PV/T-III). All the temperatures of the collector components
are greater than the ambient temperature.
6.2. Electrical characteristics
The evolution of the short circuit current values follows the
evolution of the received solar radiation intensity by each configu-
ration; which is mathematically proved by Eq. (15).
Fig. 12 shows the hourly variation of the short circuit current
values for each configuration. The short circuit current values reach
a maximum range between 3 A and 3.15 A at 13h00 for all config-
M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 469
28
Ambient temperature (°C)
26
24
22
20
9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)
urations. The graphical shapes of short circuit current are almost
superposed; it can show that the variation of the PV cells temper-
ature does not have a large effect on the variation of the short cir-
cuit current. However, Fig. 13 shows a significant variation in the
open circuit voltage compared to the configurations. The values
of the open circuit voltage vary between: 17–19.7 V for the PV
module and the conventional PV/T air collector, 17–19.25 V for
the glazed PV/T air collector and 17–19.5 V for the glazed
double-pass air collector. The second configuration (PV/T-II) shows
the highest daily average value of open circuit voltage among all
configurations, while the third configuration (PV/T-III) shows the
lowest daily average value. It can show that the open circuit volt-
age parameter is the most sensitive to the temperature factor.
The fill factor (FF) of a PV module is calculated by Eq. (17) and
represented as the ratio of its maximum electric power that can be
generated and its dummy electric power (Isc  Vco). In the ideal
case, its value is close to 1. It can show the effectiveness of the
current-voltage characteristic. Fig. 14 shows the hourly variation
of the fill factor of each solar device. For all solar devices, the value
of the fill factor ranges between 67% and 78%. The glazed PV/T air
collector (PV/T-III) has the lowest daily average value between all
configurations. Also, Fig. 14 shows that the temperature of the
PV cells has a direct and major effect on the fill factor.
6.3. Energy performances
The hourly variations of the produced electric power per unit
area for each solar device are shown in Fig. 15. The reached values
are: 102.55 W/m2, 102.39 W/m2, 94.93 W/m2 and 100.58 W/m2 for
the single PV module, the conventional PV/T collector, the glazed
PV/T collector and the glazed double-pass PV/T collector, respec-
tively. The hourly paces of the electric power for the first configu-
ration (PV-I), the second configuration (PV/T-II) and the fourth
configuration (PV/T-IV) are nearly coincident. The glazed PV/T air
collector (PV/T-III) shows the lowest electrical performance among
other configurations.
Fig. 16 shows the hourly variations of the thermal power per
unit area for each configuration of hybrid PV/T air collector.
470 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

( PV-I )
55
Ta
50 Tg

45 Tc
Temperature (°C)

Tt
40

35

30

25

20

15
7 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

( PV/T-II )
50
Ta
45
Tg
Tc
Temperature (°C)

40
Tt
35 Tf

30

25

20

15
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

( PV/T-III )
70
Ta
T tg
60
T cf
Temperature (°C)

50 T bg
Tc
40 Tt
Tf
30

20

10
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

( PV/T-IV )
50 Ta

45 T tg
T bg
Temperature (°C)

40 Tc
Tt
35
Tf
30 Tp

25

20

15
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 11. The hourly evolution of temperature components in: PV module (PV-I), conventional hybrid collector (PV/T-II), glazed hybrid collector (PV/T-III) and glazed double-
pass hybrid collector (PV/T-IV).
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 471

3.5
PV-I
3.0 PV/T-II
Short Circuit Current (A) PV/T-III
PV/T-IV
2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 12. The hourly evolution of short circuit current (Isc) for each solar device.

20.0

19.5
Open Circuit Voltage (V)

19.0

18.5
PV-I
18.0
PV/T-II
PV/T-III
17.5
PV/T-IV
17.0

16.5

16.0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 13. The hourly evolution of open circuit voltage (Vco) for each solar device.

80
PV-I
78 PV/T-II
76 PV/T-III
PV/T-IV
74
Fill Factor (%)

72
70

68
66

64
62

60
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 14. The hourly evolution of fill factor (FF) for each solar device.

Significant values are reached: 313.01 W/m2, 461.51 W/m2, and
579.73 W/m2 for the hybrid collector configurations; conventional
(PV/T-II), glazed (PV/T-III), and glazed with double pass (PV/T-IV),
respectively. The double-pass hybrid collector shows the most effi-
cient system in terms of produced thermal power. While the con-
ventional hybrid collector produces the lowest thermal power.
An increase in the PV cells temperature has the effect to
decrease the electrical efficiency. This is reflected by Eq. (20).
The compared hourly variations of electrical efficiency for each
solar device are shown in Fig. 17. The values range between a
minimum of 10% and a maximum of 11.15% during the day.
The daily averages of the electrical efficiencies are: 10.66%,
472 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

120
PV-I
110
PV/T-II
Electrical Power (W/m2) 100 PV/T-III
90 PV/T-IV
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 15. The simulated values of electrical power for each configuration during the test day.

600
PV/T-II
550
PV/T-III
500 PV/T-IV
Thermal Power (W/m2)

450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00

Time (hr)

Fig. 16. The simulated values of thermal power for each configuration during the test day.

12.0
PV-I
PV/T-II
11.5 PV/T-III
Electrical efficiency (%)

PV/T-IV

11.0

10.5

10.0

9.5

9.0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 17. The hourly variation of electrical efficiency for each configuration.

10.73%, 10.33% and 10.56% for the single PV module, the conven- figuration of hybrid PV/T collector. The daily averages of the
tional PV/T collector, the glazed PV/T collector and the glazed thermal efficiency are: 21.19%, 40.77% and 44.41% for the conven-
double pass PV/T collector, respectively. Fig. 18 shows the com- tional, the glazed and the glazed double pass configurations of
pared hourly variations of the thermal efficiencies for each con- hybrid collector, respectively.
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476 473

80
PV/T-II
70 PV/T-III
PV/T-IV
Thermal efficiency (%) 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 18. The hourly variation of thermal efficiency for each configuration.

100
Overall energy efficiency (%)

90

80

70

60
PV-I
50 PV/T-II
PV/T-III
40
PV/T-IV
30

20
7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00
Time (hr)

Fig. 19. The hourly variation of overall energy efficiency for each configuration.

Energy efficiencies (%)

Photovoltaic module (PV-I) Convenonnal PV/T collector (PV/T-II)
Glazed PV/T collector (PV/T-III) Double-pass PV/T collector (PV/T-IV)

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
Electrical efficiency (%) Thermal efficiency (%) Overall energy efficiency (%)

Fig. 20. Comparative Histograms of daily mean of electrical, thermal and overall energy efficiencies for fourth configurations.

The glazed PV/T air collector configuration has the lowest elec- renewed flow of the fluid over the PV module, the temperatures
trical conversion efficiency among other solar devices; that can be of the confined air and the PV cells increase significantly, leading
justified by the glazing above the PV module. In the absence of a to a drop in the electrical conversion efficiency. At the same time,
474 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476

Table 8
The monthly weather data for the geographical site of Algiers, Algeria.

Month H_Gh (kW h/m2) Ta (°C) Ta_min (°C) Ta_max (°C) Vw (m/s)
Jan 82 10.1 8.4 11.6 2.4
Feb 93 10.9 9 12.8 2.5
Mar 144 13.4 12.2 14.8 2.7
Apr 171 15.5 14.4 16.6 3
May 203 19 17.3 20.7 3
Jun 229 23.1 22 24.4 3.1
Jul 244 25.8 24.5 27.1 3.1
Aug 211 26.2 24.9 27.5 2.9
Sep 161 23.2 22.3 24.1 2.8
Oct 129 20.1 18.5 21.7 2.3
Nov 89 14.6 12.9 16.4 2.5
Dec 73 11.7 10 13.4 2.6
Year 1827 17.8 16.4 19.3 2.7

Monthly thermal energy output (kWh/m²)

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Convenonal PV/T collector (PV/T-II) Glazed PV/T collector (PV/T-III)

Double-pass PV/T collector (PV/T-IV)

Fig. 21. Prediction of the monthly thermal energy output.

Monthly electrical energy output (kWh/m²)

30

25

20

15

10

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Photovoltaic Module (PV-I) Convenonal PV/T collector (PV/T-II)

Glazed PV/T collector (PV/T-III) Double-pass PV/T collector (PV/T-IV)

Fig. 22. Prediction of the monthly electrical energy output.

this glazing increases the outlet air temperature and consequently
increases the thermal conversion efficiency.
The glazed double-pass PV/T collector configuration shows rel-
atively the highest conversion efficiencies. The dual circulation
below and above the PV module increases the exchange surface
with the fluid, ensuring a maximum extraction of heat from the
PV module, thereby increasing the fluid temperature and there-
fore the thermal efficiency. The uniform cooling of the PV module
by the double flow causes a lowered PV cells temperature
thereby increasing the electrical conversion efficiency of the PV
module. The absorber plate above the thermal insulator has the
effect of increasing the heat transfer by radiation with the PV
module, and consequently helps the PV module to lower its
temperature.
The hourly variations of overall energy efficiency for each solar
device are shown in Fig. 19. The daily average values are: 29.63%,
51.02%, 69.47% and 74% for the PV module, the conventional
PV/T air collector, the glazed PV/T air collector and the glazed dou-
ble pass PV/T air collector, respectively. The fourth configuration
(PV/T-IV) shows the highest values of overall energy efficiency.
While, the first configuration (PV-I) shows the lowest values of
overall energy efficiency.
 M.E.A. Slimani et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 133 (2017) 458–476
Annual energy output (kWh/m²)
Electrical
387.14
194.76 196.04
Photovoltaic Module Convenonal PV/T
(PV-I) collector (PV/T-II)
Fig. 23. Prediction of the annual electrical and thermal energies output.
A histogram of various daily average efficiencies estimated in
this study is shown in Fig. 20. It shows that the glazed double pass
PV/T air collector (PV/T-IV) gives the best conversion efficiencies in
comparison with other solar devices.
6.4. Monthly and annual energy output
The monthly average values of solar energy per unit area, ambi-
ent temperature, and wind speed for the site of Algiers are shown
in Table 8. The solar energy received reaches its maximum
monthly value in the month of July.
The prediction of the monthly thermal and electrical energies
per unit area is shown in Figs. 21 and 22, respectively. The config-
uration of double-pass PV/T collector shows higher thermal energy
production among other configurations. By comparing different
configurations, the electrical energy production is relatively stable;
its monthly value ranges between 8 and 26 kW h/m2. In July the
production of thermal and electrical energies is maximal; that
can be justified by the significant value of the received solar radi-
ation in this month.
The prediction values of the annual energy output per unit area
are shown in Fig. 23 for each configuration. In terms of thermal
energy output, the double-pass configuration of hybrid collector
presents the best solar converter. Comparing different solar
devices, the electrical energy output is slightly affected by the type
of configuration. For different configurations, the annual electrical
energy output ranges between 188 and 196 kW h/m2. The glassed
hybrid collector with single pass gives the lowest annual electrical
energy output among other configurations.
7. Conclusion
In this paper, the compared study of thermal and electrical per-
formance between four solar devices is presented under a sample
of Algiers climatic conditions, Algeria. The studied solar devices
are: a single photovoltaic module (PV-I), a conventional PV/T air
collector (PV/T-II), a glazed single pass PV/T air collector (PV/T-
III) and a glazed double pass PV/T air collector (PV/T-IV). A detailed
electrical and thermal mathematical analysis was carried out
through the different electric and thermal parameters and equa-
tions for each solar device. To evaluate the thermal and electrical
performances and characteristics of the analyzed systems, a
thermal-electrical numerical model was developed; this numerical
model is validated through the previously published results. The
comparison study between all configurations has given us several
results on the thermal and electrical behaviors of the studied solar
devices. The results show that the daily average of the electrical,
thermal and overall energy efficiencies are 10.66%, 0% and 29.63%
475
Thermal
744.87 811.37
188.73 194.58
Glazed PV/T collector Double -pass PV/T
(PV/T-III) collector (PV/T-IV)
respectively, for the photovoltaic module, 10.73%, 21.19% and
51.02% respectively, for the conventional PV/T air collector,
10.33%, 40.77% and 69.47% respectively, for the glazed single pass
PV/T air collector, 10.65%, 44.41% and 74% respectively, for glazed
double-pass PV/T air collector.
From the study, the following conclusions can be drawn:
 It is found that the PV module shows the highest electrical effi-
ciency if the wind velocity is more important that the velocity of
the coolant.
 The overall energy efficiency increases with the addition of a
glass cover above the PV module and an absorber plate above
of the thermal insulator, and significantly increases with a dou-
ble circulation of fluid; above and below the PV module.
 The glazed PV/T air collector with single pass shows the lowest
electrical efficiency.
 In terms of energy output, the glazed double-pass PV/T air col-
lector shows the best monthly and annual energy output.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the Renew-
able Energy Development Center (CDER) and the faculty of physics
of the University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene
(USTHB) of Algiers to make this work. Also, the authors are thank-
ful to the helpful comments and the assistance of the reviewers
and the editor.
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