Numerical investigation of the natural air-cooling of photovoltaic modules in a new concept of hybrid system PVT mounted in stairs form (S-PVT)

A two-dimensional numerical study on improving the air-cooling of PV panels by turbulent natural convection in a new concept of hybrid system photovoltaic / thermal solar collector installed in stairs form (S-PVT) has been presented. Two configurations have been studied: configuration (A) contains two photovoltaic modules installed in series. Whereas, in the configuration (B), the two photovoltaic panels are installed in the form of stairs. The flow field is governed by the Navier-Stokes equation and the thermal field by the energy equation. The turbulent fluctuations of velocities and scalar magnitudes are described by the standard turbulence model k- £. The effects of the Rayleigh number in the range (10⁵<;ra<;10