IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i13p9932-d1176514.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thermal and Optical Analyses of a Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) Collector with Asymmetric Reflector: Numerical Modeling and Validation with Experimental Results

Author

Listed:
  • Dimitrios N. Korres

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 157 73 Athens, Greece)

  • Theodoros Papingiotis

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 157 73 Athens, Greece)

  • Irene Koronaki

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 157 73 Athens, Greece)

  • Christos Tzivanidis

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 157 73 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

This study presents a combined thermal and optical, three-dimensional analysis of an asymmetric compound parabolic collector (ACPC) with an integrated hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) receiver with the aim of establishing a sustainable approach in two ways: firstly, by determining the optimal tilt angle for operations, and secondly, by introducing an innovative simulation method which reduces computational cost while calculating thermal performance. Initially the Incident Angle Modifier ( I A M ) was calculated for a wide range of incident angles, and the ray-tracing results were verified using three different simulation tools (Tonatiuh, COMSOL, and SolidWorks) with mean deviations being lower than 4%. The optimal tilt angle of the collector was determined for seven months of the year by conducting a detailed ray-tracing analysis for the mean day of each month considering whole day operation. In the thermal analysis part, the authors introduced novel numerical modeling for numerical simulations. This modeling method, designed with sustainability in mind, enables lighter computational domains for the air gap while achieving accurate numerical results. The approach was established using two distinct simulation tools: COMSOL and SolidWorks. From the optical analysis, it was found that in all months examined there is a four-hour time range around solar noon in which the optimum tilt angle remains constant at a value of 30°. The numerical models constructed for the thermal analysis were verified with each other (6.15% mean deviation) and validated through experimental results taken from the literature regarding the examined collector (<6% mean deviation). In addition, the two simulation tools exhibited a deviation of around 6% between each other. Finally, the thermal performance of the collector was investigated for the mean day of September at solar noon by adopting the optimal tilt angle for that month according to the optical analysis, considering inlet temperatures from 20 °C up to 80 °C.

Suggested Citation

  • Dimitrios N. Korres & Theodoros Papingiotis & Irene Koronaki & Christos Tzivanidis, 2023. "Thermal and Optical Analyses of a Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) Collector with Asymmetric Reflector: Numerical Modeling and Validation with Experimental Results," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-22, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9932-:d:1176514
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9932/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/13/9932/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Valenzuela, Loreto & López-Martín, Rafael & Zarza, Eduardo, 2014. "Optical and thermal performance of large-size parabolic-trough solar collectors from outdoor experiments: A test method and a case study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 456-464.
    2. Herrando, María & Markides, Christos N. & Hellgardt, Klaus, 2014. "A UK-based assessment of hybrid PV and solar-thermal systems for domestic heating and power: System performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 288-309.
    3. Kalogirou, Soteris A., 2014. "Flat-plate collector construction and system configuration to optimize the thermosiphonic effect," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 202-206.
    4. Dimitrios N. Korres & Evangelos Bellos & Christos Tzivanidis, 2022. "Integration of a Linear Cavity Receiver in an Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-19, November.
    5. Pouriya Nasseriyan & Hossein Afzali Gorouh & João Gomes & Diogo Cabral & Mazyar Salmanzadeh & Tiffany Lehmann & Abolfazl Hayati, 2020. "Numerical and Experimental Study of an Asymmetric CPC-PVT Solar Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, April.
    6. Korres, Dimitrios N. & Tzivanidis, Christos, 2022. "A novel asymmetric compound parabolic collector under experimental and numerical investigation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1580-1592.
    7. Herrando, María & Ramos, Alba & Zabalza, Ignacio & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "A comprehensive assessment of alternative absorber-exchanger designs for hybrid PVT-water collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1583-1602.
    8. Afzali Gorouh, Hossein & Salmanzadeh, Mazyar & Nasseriyan, Pouriya & Hayati, Abolfazl & Cabral, Diogo & Gomes, João & Karlsson, Björn, 2022. "Thermal modelling and experimental evaluation of a novel concentrating photovoltaic thermal collector (CPVT) with parabolic concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 535-553.
    9. Koronaki, I.P. & Nitsas, M.T., 2018. "Experimental and theoretical performance investigation of asymmetric photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar collectors connected in series," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 654-672.
    10. Bellos, Evangelos & Tzivanidis, Christos, 2018. "Investigation of a star flow insert in a parabolic trough solar collector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 86-102.
    11. Renzi, M. & Egidi, L. & Comodi, G., 2015. "Performance analysis of two 3.5kWp CPV systems under real operating conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 687-696.
    12. Evangelos Bellos & Dimitrios N. Korres & Christos Tzivanidis, 2023. "Investigation of a Compound Parabolic Collector with a Flat Glazing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, February.
    13. Bellos, E. & Tzivanidis, C. & Antonopoulos, K.A. & Gkinis, G., 2016. "Thermal enhancement of solar parabolic trough collectors by using nanofluids and converging-diverging absorber tube," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 213-222.
    14. Subiantoro, Alison & Ooi, Kim Tiow, 2013. "Analytical models for the computation and optimization of single and double glazing flat plate solar collectors with normal and small air gap spacing," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 392-399.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dimitrios N. Korres & Evangelos Bellos & Christos Tzivanidis, 2022. "Integration of a Linear Cavity Receiver in an Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-19, November.
    2. Eduardo Venegas-Reyes & Naghelli Ortega-Avila & Manuel I. Peña-Cruz & Omar J. García-Ortiz & Norma A. Rodríguez-Muñoz, 2021. "A Linear Hybrid Concentrated Photovoltaic Solar Collector: A Methodology Proposal of Optical and Thermal Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Maadi, Seyed Reza & Navegi, Ali & Solomin, Evgeny & Ahn, Ho Seon & Wongwises, Somchai & Mahian, Omid, 2021. "Performance improvement of a photovoltaic-thermal system using a wavy-strip insert with and without nanofluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    4. Barthwal, Mohit & Rakshit, Dibakar, 2023. "A solar spectral splitting-based PVT collector with packed transparent tube receiver for co-generation of heat and electricity," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    5. Taher Maatallah & Ahlem Houcine & Farooq Saeed & Sikandar Khan & Sajid Ali, 2024. "Simulated Performance Analysis of a Hybrid Water-Cooled Photovoltaic/Parabolic Dish Concentrator Coupled with Conical Cavity Receiver," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Qiu, Yu & Xu, Yucong & Li, Qing & Wang, Jikang & Wang, Qiliang & Liu, Bin, 2021. "Efficiency enhancement of a solar trough collector by combining solar and hot mirrors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    7. Gong, Jing-hu & Wang, Jun & Lund, Peter D. & Zhao, Dan-dan & Xu, Jing-wen & Jin, Yi-hao, 2021. "Comparative study of heat transfer enhancement using different fins in semi-circular absorber tube for large-aperture trough solar concentrator," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1229-1241.
    8. Kumaresan, G. & Sudhakar, P. & Santosh, R. & Velraj, R., 2017. "Experimental and numerical studies of thermal performance enhancement in the receiver part of solar parabolic trough collectors," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 1363-1374.
    9. Guarracino, Ilaria & Freeman, James & Ramos, Alba & Kalogirou, Soteris A. & Ekins-Daukes, Nicholas J. & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Systematic testing of hybrid PV-thermal (PVT) solar collectors in steady-state and dynamic outdoor conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 1014-1030.
    10. Ajbar, Wassila & Parrales, A. & Huicochea, A. & Hernández, J.A., 2022. "Different ways to improve parabolic trough solar collectors’ performance over the last four decades and their applications: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    11. Chakraborty, Oveepsa, 2023. "Influence of spinning flower structure inserts in the thermal performance of LS-2 model of parabolic trough collector with ternary hybrid nanofluid," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 215-228.
    12. Karolina Papis-Frączek & Krzysztof Sornek, 2022. "A Review on Heat Extraction Devices for CPVT Systems with Active Liquid Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-49, August.
    13. Herrando, María & Pantaleo, Antonio M. & Wang, Kai & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Solar combined cooling, heating and power systems based on hybrid PVT, PV or solar-thermal collectors for building applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 637-647.
    14. Mukhamad Faeshol Umam & Md. Hasanuzzaman & Nasrudin Abd Rahim, 2022. "Global Advancement of Nanofluid-Based Sheet and Tube Collectors for a Photovoltaic Thermal System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-37, August.
    15. Faisal Masood & Nursyarizal Bin Mohd Nor & Perumal Nallagownden & Irraivan Elamvazuthi & Rahman Saidur & Mohammad Azad Alam & Javed Akhter & Mohammad Yusuf & Mubbashar Mehmood & Mujahid Ali, 2022. "A Review of Recent Developments and Applications of Compound Parabolic Concentrator-Based Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-30, May.
    16. Korres, Dimitrios N. & Tzivanidis, Christos & Koronaki, Irene P. & Nitsas, Michael T., 2019. "Experimental, numerical and analytical investigation of a U-type evacuated tube collectors' array," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 218-231.
    17. María Herrando & Alba Ramos, 2022. "Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV-T) Systems for Combined Cooling, Heating and Power in Buildings: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-28, April.
    18. Bellos, Evangelos & Tzivanidis, Christos & Tsimpoukis, Dimitrios, 2017. "Multi-criteria evaluation of parabolic trough collector with internally finned absorbers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 540-561.
    19. Yang, S. & Ordonez, J.C., 2019. "3D thermal-hydraulic analysis of a symmetric wavy parabolic trough absorber pipe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    20. Cabral, Diogo, 2022. "Development and performance comparison of a modified glazed CPC hybrid solar collector coupled with a bifacial PVT receiver," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:13:p:9932-:d:1176514. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.