Energy and exergy analysis of PV/T air collectors connected in series

In this paper an attempt has been made to derive the analytical expressions for N hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air collectors connected in series. The performance of collectors is evaluated by considering the two different cases, namely, Case I (air collector is fully covered by PV module (glass to glass) and air flows above the absorber plate) and Case II (air collector is fully covered by PV module (glass to glass) and air flows below the absorber plate). This paper shows the detailed analysis of energy, exergy and electrical energy by varying the number of collectors and air velocity considering four weather conditions (a, b, c and d type) and five different cities (New Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Srinagar, and Jodhpur) of India. It is found that the collectors fully covered by PV module and air flows below the absorber plate gives better results in terms of thermal energy, electrical energy and exergy gain. Physical implementation of BIPV system has also been evaluated. If this type of system is installed on roof of building or integrated with building envelope will simultaneously fulfill the electricity generation for lighting purpose and hot air can be used for space heating or drying. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.