Renewable Energy 30 (2005) 20052017

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Performance analysis of a double-pass

photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collector
with CPC and fins
Mohd. Yusof Hj. Othman*, Baharudin Yatima,
Kamaruzzaman Sopianb, Mohd. Nazari Abu Bakara
a

Center for Applied Physics Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
b
Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Received 10 November 2003; accepted 31 October 2004
Available online 25 May 2005

Abstract
The use of PV/T in combination with concentrating reflectors has a potential to significantly
increase power production from a given solar cell area. A prototype double-pass photovoltaicthermal solar air collector with CPC and fins has been designed and fabricated and its performance
over a range of operating conditions was studied. The absorber of the hybrid photovoltaic/thermal
(PV/T) collector under investigation consists of an array of solar cells for generating electricity,
compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) to increase the radiation intensity falling on the solar cells
and fins attached to the back side of the absorber plate to improve heat transfer to the flowing air.
Energy balance equations have been developed for the various nodes of the system. Both thermal and
electrical performance of the collector are presented and discussed.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T); Solar collector; CPC; Fin

* Corresponding author.
0960-1481/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2004.10.007

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Nomenclature
A
Surface area (m2)
C
Specific heat (J kgK1 KK1)
d
Gap loss correction
h
Heat transfer coefficient (WmK2 KK1)
hf
Fin height (m)
kf
Thermal conductivity of the fin
L
Collector length (m)
m8
Mass flow rate (kg sK1 mK2)
Nu
Nusselt number
P
Solar cell packing factor
Re
Reynolds number
S
Solar irradiance (WmK2)
T
Temperature (8K)
U
Heat loss coefficient (WmK2 KK1)
wf
Fin thickness (m)
W
Collector width (m)
Subscripts
ab(T) Top absorber surface
ab(B) Bottom absorber surface
a
Ambient
B
Beam radiation
bp
Back plate
c
Convective
D
Diffuse radiation
f1
Working fluid (air) at first channel
f2
Working fluid (air) at second channel
r
Radiative
R
Reflector
S
Solar cell
tot
Total
g
Glass cover
p
Absorber plate
Greek letters
a
Absorptivity
h
Efficiency
t
Transmitivity
3
Emissivity
q
Acceptance half-angle
r
Reflectivity

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1. Introduction
Solar energy is a clean energy which has the potential to meet a significant proportion
of the worlds energy needs. It can be broadly classified into two systems; thermal energy
system which converts solar energy into thermal energy and photovoltaic energy system
which converts solar energy into electrical energy. The vital component in solar energy
system is the solar collector. In the thermal system, the collector is heated by the sun and
the heat is then transferred to a working fluid. In the photovoltaic system, the collector is
comprised of photovoltaic cells which converts the solar radiation into electrical energy.
Normally, these two collection systems are used separately. It has been shown that these
systems can be combined to form hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system. The term
PV/T refers to solar thermal collectors that use PV cells as an integral part of the absorber
plate. The system generates both thermal and electrical energy simultaneously. The
number of the photovoltaic cells in the system can be adjusted according to the local load
demands. A number of simulation as well as experimental studies have been reported on
the photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system. Among the first, Kern and Russell [1], gave the
concept of PV/T collector using water or air as the heat removal fluid. Florschuetz [2],
suggested an extension of the HottelWhillier model for the analysis of PV/T system and
Raghuraman [3] presented numerical methods predicting the performance of liquid and air
PV/T flat plate collectors. Cox and Raghuraman [4], performed computer simulations on
air type hybrid system. Bhargava et al. and Prakash [5,6] reported the effect of air mass
flow rate, air channel depth, length and fraction of absorber plate area covered by solar
cells (packing factor).
The collector was essentially a single-pass air heater with the air flow channel between
two metallic plates. The upper plate was painted black and the solar cells were pasted
directly on the top surface. The adhesive material must be of a special kind such that it is
thermally conducting but electrically insulating. Sopian et al. [7] successfully
demonstrated the improved performance of a double-pass collector over the single-pass
collector due to efficient cooling of the photovoltaic cells.
An important component that determines the cost of the hybrid system is the solar cell.
The solar cell area required for a photovoltaic-thermal air heater should generate sufficient
energy to run the system. This is the amount of energy required to circulate the air through
the collector. A promising cost reduction technique would be the use of sun light
concentrator. Several concentrators have been discussed in the literature. Garg et al. [8]
presented the first simulation study of the single-pass photovoltaic-thermal air heater with
plane reflector. Garg and Adhikari [9,13] reported the performance analysis of a hybrid
photovoltaic-thermal collector with integrated CPC troughs. Both cases indicated that the
total efficiency with reflector is slightly higher compared with the systems without
concentrators. Due to the increased solar radiation, the average plate and solar cell
temperatures increased. Since the collector with reflector operated at a higher temperature,
the electrical efficiency also decreased.
In this work, a new design of a double-pass photovoltaic-thermal air collector with
compound parabolic concentrator and fins was studied. The collector design concept is
shown in Fig. 1. Air enters through the upper channel formed by the glass cover and the
photovoltaic panel and is heated directly by the sun. Next it enters the lower channel

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Fig. 1. The schematic model of a double-pass photovoltaic thermal solar collector with CPC and fins.

formed by the back plate and the photovoltaic panel. The compound parabolic
concentrators, concentrate solar radiation onto the PV cells. The fins on the back of the
photovoltaic panel increases the heat transfer to the air and enhances the efficiency of the
system.

2. Theoretical analysis
A steady-state one-dimensional analysis in closed-form solutions is obtained. This
involves steady-state energy balance equations in various nodes of the system. The
thermal schematic model of the double-pass PV/T solar air collector is shown in Fig. 2.
To simplify the analysis, the following assumptions have been made.
i. Steady state of energy transfer has been achieved.
ii. Capacity effects of the glass cover, solar cells and back plate have been neglected.
iii. The temperatures of the glass cover, solar cells and plates are vary only in the direction
of working fluid flow.
iv. The CPC is ideal and free from fabrication errors and any beam of incident radiation
falls within the acceptance angle can reach the receiver with the help of parabolic
reflector.

Fig. 2. The thermal schematic model of the double-pass PV/T with CPC and fins.

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v. The average number of reflection for radiation passing through CPC inside the
acceptance-half angle is treated constant.
vi. The side losses from the system are negligible.

2.1. Energy balance

The energy balance equations can be written as follows
(a) The glass cover.
ag Stot CR1 C tg rp r2Rn

Z hrgs Tg K Ts C hcgw Tg K Tw C hcgf1 Tg K Tf1 C hrpg

AabT
Tg K Tp
AC

(1)

where

A
R =AS E
d : average number of reflection for radiation passing through CPC inside
nZ
the acceptance-half angle.
StotZSBCSD: total radiation
CRZ sin1 q : concentration ratio of CPC [12]
E
d : the fraction of radiation emitted by truncated CPC which goes to the solar cell.
(b) The inlet air stream between the glass cover and the collector plate.
AabT
m 8Cf1 dTf1
Z hcgf1 Tg K Tf1 C hcpf1
Tp K Tf1
W
dx
AC

(2)

(c) The collector plate which consists of the solar cells, CPC and fins.




n~ p n~g n~ 2Rn~
tg ap SU CRrnR
d 1 C
1 K P C tg apv SU PCRrnR
d
CR




n~ pv n~ g n~2Rn~
AabT
AabT
Tp K Tf1 C hrpg
Tp K Tg
! 1C
1 K hpv Z hcpf1
CR
Ac
Ac
C hcpf2

AabB
AabB
hp Tp K Tf2 C hrpbp
T K Tbp
Ac
Ac

where SU Z SB C SD =CR
A
hp Z 1K fin 1K hf : fin effectiveness
AabB
tanh mhf
hf Z
: fin efficiency
mhf


1
2hc 2
mZ
kf wf
d: gap loss correction.

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(d) The outlet air stream between the fined absorber plate and the back plate.
K

AabB
m 8Cf2 dTf2
Z hcpf2
c T K Tf2 C hcbpf2 Tbp K Tf2
W
dx
Ac p p

(4)

(e) The back plate.

hcbpf2 Tf2 K Tbp C hrpbp

AabB
Tp K Tbp Z Ub Tbp K Ta
AC

(5)

2.2. Analytical solution

The variables Tg, Tp and Tbp can be eliminated from Eqs. (2) and (4) by substituting
Eqs. (1)(3) into them. The following two linear first-order differential equations are
obtained.
dTf1
Z A1 Tf1 C A2 Tf2 C A3
dx

(6)

dTf2
Z B1 Tf1 C B2 Tf2 C B3
dx

(7)

where A1, A2, A3, B1, B2 and B3 are the constants obtained through algebraic
manipulations. The Eqs. (6) and (7) can be solved by using operational method in
closed-form solutions with the following boundary conditions.
Tf1xZ0 Z Ta
Tf1 Z Tf2
Hence, the temperatures of the fluid in both channels as a function of distance in flow
direction can be obtained (x-direction).





1
B1 A3 K A1 B3
D1 x
D2 x
Tf1x Z
C e D1 K B2 C C2 e D2 K B2 K B2
K B3
B1 1
A1 B2 K B1 A2
(8)



B1 A3 K A 1 B3
Tf2x Z C1 eD1 x C C2 eD2 x C
(9)
A1 B2 K B 1 A2
where
C1, C2: the constants obtained by applying the boundary conditions into Eqs. (8)
and (9).
D1, D2: the roots obtained from the second-order differential operator equation.
2.3. Heat transfer coefficients
The radiative and convective heat transfer coefficient for parallel plates are obtained
from Ong [14]. Malik and Buelow [10] obtained the ratio of the Nusselt number for rough

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and smooth duct for the flat sheet type as follow,

Nurough
Z 1:101 C 8 !10K6 Re K 5 !10K11 Re2
Nusmooth

10; 000! Re! 50; 000

This correlation can be utilized to calculate the convective heat transfer between the
absorber plate and the back plate as well as the glass cover.
2.4. Performance parameters
The performance parameters of the hybrid PV/T system are obtained in terms of the
solar cell efficiency and the thermal efficiency. The solar cell efficiency depends on the cell
temperature as given by [2].
hpv Z href 1 K 0:0054Tpav K Tref 
where href is the reference efficiency of solar cell at TrefZ25 8C and the mean cell
temperature Tpav is obtained by integrating the function Tp(x) as follow,
xZL
xZ0 Tp xdx
Tpav Z xZL
xZ0 dx
The instantaneous thermal efficiency of the PV/T system is given by [11].

m 8Cf To K Ti dt

hthermal Z
CR Stot dt
The combined photovoltaic-thermal efficiency of the system is the sum of photovoltaic
and thermal efficiency of the system [7].

m 8Cf To K Ti dt C PE dt

hpvt Z
Z hth C hpv
CR Stot dt
where the instantaneous electrical energy generated, PE in the double-pass photovoltaicthermal air heater with CPC and fins is written as:




n~ pv n~ g n~2Rn

PE Z tg SU Phpv apv dCRrRn
1 C
CR

3. Experimental setup
The schematic diagram of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 3. The basic
components of the setup are as follows. (a) The double-pass photovoltaic/thermal solar
collector. (b) The air flow measurement system. (c) The temperature measurement system.
(d) The wind speed measurement system. (e) The current and voltage measurement
system. (f) The solar radiation measurement system. (g) The data acquisition system.

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Fig. 3. Experimental setup of the double-pass photovoltaic/thermal solar collector.

The collector dimensions are 0.85 m!1.22 m (W!L). The height of the upper channel is
16.5 cm. The height of the lower channel can be varied from 30 to 120 mm. The total area
covered by solar cells is 0.38 m2. CPC with concentration ratio of 1.86 is used as a reflector
and located parallel to the air flow. The collector was tested at steady state operation under
indoor conditions to determine their electrical and thermal efficiency for various operating
temperatures. Twenty-three tungsten halogen lamps each rated at 500 W were used to
simulate solar radiation during the test. The intensity of the incoming solar radiation was
measured by Eppley pyranometer installed parallel to the collector plane. The wind speed
was measured by micro response anemometer. Ambient temperature and other
temperature at several positions of the system as at input (Ti), output (To), photovoltaic
cell (Tpv), air in the duct (Tf), etc were measured by k-type thermocouple. The air flow
sensing element was of the vane type probe head and connected direct to the data logger.

4. Results and discussion

The mathematical model have been made for PV/T air heating system with CPC and
fins. An algorithm has been developed to predict the working fluid (air) temperature at
both channels as a function of the absorber length. Various thermo-physical parameter
used in the calculation have been summarized in Table 1.
4.1. Electrical performance
During the tests, the photovoltaic electrical output was connected to a load simulating
real system operation. The maximum power point Pmax was determined from the collected
current (I) and voltage (V) data. When measuring currentvoltage characteristics, (see
Fig. 4) electrical losses become visible. These losses are indicated by decrease in fill factor

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Table 1
Thermo-physical parameters
Parameter

Value

Parameter

Value

ag
ap
apv
3g
3p
tg

0.06
0.95
0.9
0.94
0.9
0.9

rp
rg
rR
CR
P
n

0.05
0.02
0.9
1.85
0.44
0.6

at high currents and a decrease in open-circuit voltage at elevated cell temperatures. The
fill factor decreases from 0.54 at radiation intensity of 400 W/m2 to 0.42 at radiation
intensity of 700 W/m2 and mass flow rate of 0.027 kg/s. The module saturation current
causes the open-circuit voltage to drop, whereas the short-circuit current increases slightly
with increasing temperature at the same radiation level. As can be seen in Fig. 5, the
electrical maximum power of the collector increases with the radiation intensity but the
open-circuit voltage drops slightly with the radiation intensity due to increase in cell
temperature at constant mass flow rate.
4.2. Photovoltaic/thermal performance
Fig. 6 shows the maximum rise in air temperature (T0KTi)max is seen to drop as
expected with increasing mass flow rate. Fig. 7 shows the effect of radiation intensity on
the temperature rise at various flow rates. The temperature rise is proportional to the
radiation intensity at a specific mass flow rate. Fig. 8 shows the effect of the mass flow rate

Fig. 4. Variation of IV curve on solar radiation at mass flow rate of 0.027 kg/s (d1Z16.5 cm, d1Z3 cm, TiZTaZ
3132 8C).

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Fig. 5. Power against voltage at mass flow rate of 0.027 kg/s (d1Z16.5 cm, d2Z3 cm, TiZTaZ3132 8C).

on the efficiencies (photovoltaic, thermal and combined photovoltaic/thermal) of the

collector. In connection with Fig. 6, it is obvious that as the air temperature rise gets less
and less with increasing mass flow rate, the collector thermal efficiency gets
correspondingly higher and higher due to the decrease in the average temperatures of
the absorber plate and the glass cover, thereby reducing the top losses. Increasing the flow
rate will increase the heat transfer coefficient between the channel walls and the working
fluid, resulting in a lower mean photovoltaic cells temperature. This will increase

Fig. 6. Variation of maximum air temperature rise with air specific mass flow rate at radiation level of 500 W/m2
(d1Z16.5 cm, d2Z3 cm, TiZTaZ3132 8C).

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Fig. 7. The effect of solar radiation on the temperature rise at various mass flow rate (d1Z16.5 cm, d2Z3 cm, TiZ
TaZ3132 8C).

the electrical efficiencies of the collector. However the enhancement in the value of
electrical efficiency is remarkably very small as compared to the increase in the value of
mass flow rate. Nevertheless from Fig. 8 it shows some contribution of the electrical
efficiency to the total efficiency of the system. The combined efficiency varies from 39 to
70% at mass flow rate of 0.0150.16 kg/s and radiation intensity at 500 W/m2.
It has been observed that the experimental results were slightly higher than as predicted
in mathematical model. This characteristic may be due to the effect of IR radiation
released by tungsten halogen lamps during the test. It has been seen in Fig. 8 that the IR

Fig. 8. The effect of mass flow rate on efficiencies at solar radiation of 500 WmK2 (d1Z16.5 cm, d2Z3 cm, TiZ
TaZ3132 8C).

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radiation gave an impact to the electrical performance of the collector and reduced to 50%
of the actual electrical energy produced meanwhile the thermal performance increased by
10% of the predicted value.

5. Conclusions
The developed steady state model predicts the thermal and electrical performance of a
PV/T collector with CPC and fins The prediction results agreed with the results obtained
from the experiment in solar laboratory. Nevertheless some correction should be made due
to the effect of IR radiation during the test. In general, results show that electricity
production in a PV/T hybrid module decreases with increasing temperature of the air flow.
This implies that the air temperature should be kept as low as possible. On the other hand,
the system should deliver hot air for other purposes. A trade off between maximizing
electricity production and producing hot air of useful temperatures is thus necessary. The
simultaneous use of hybrid PV/T, CPC and fins has a potential to significantly increase in
power production and reduce the cost of photovoltaic electricity.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Science, Technology and the
Environment Malaysia for sponsoring this work under project IRPA 02-02-02-0007EA109.

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