Study of Hybrid Photovoltaic/Thermal Collector Provided With Finned Metal Plates: A Numerical Investigation under Real Operating Conditions

This paper presents the results of a numerical study of a hybrid solar air collector provided with baffles (fins). The study has been initiated in order to study the effective influence of fins on the thermal and electrical performances of a hybrid PV/T air collector. The addition of baffles or rows of fins placed in the dynamic air vein aims to improve the performance of hybrid collector. A comparison between simulation and experimental was done in order to validate the numerical model developed for this study. We also present the influence of increasing the number of rows of fins on the thermal and electrical efficiencies. The number of rows of fins varies from 6 to 24 rows; the results show that the outlet temperature and the thermal performance of the hybrid collector have improved significantly; on the other side for electrical performance a small improvement is noticed.