Performance of a PV/T Solar Collector in a Tropical Monsoon Climate City in Brazil

This paper presents the mathematical model of a flat plate photovoltaic/thermal sheet and tube solar collector (PV/T) having water as working fluid and numerical simulations results aiming to identify the most important parameters that affect the efficiency of the collector when operating in a locality of tropical monsoon climate zone in Brazil. The solar radiation incident on the collector and the ambient air-temperature were taken into account and assumed as time dependent. The results obtained showed the influence on the collector thermal and electrical efficiency of the convection heat transfer coefficient, the incident solar radiation, and the mass flow rate.