Effect of Packing Factor on the Electrical Performance of Semitransparent Photovoltaic Thermal (SPVT) System: An Experimental Approach

Hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems are used for generating electricity as well as to regulate the heating effect of PV module. In different applications of hybrid PVT systems, the main emphasis is given on the electrical energy. In present paper, mathematical modeling is done for semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (SPVT) collector with air as the working fluid. The working fluid (air) sweeps away the excessive heat associate with the PV module and the temperature of module gets lowered which increases the electrical efficiency of PVT system. SPVT air collectors with three cases having different packing factors are considered. Case-I: SPVT air collector with 80Wp PV module (0.81 packing factor); Case-II: SPVT air collector with 50Wp (0.52 packing factor); Case-III: SPVT air collector with 25Wp (0.31 packing factor). The expression for electrical efficiency has been developed for all the three cases. For the circulation of air, a wooden duct of cross section of 0.86 m 0.63 m × 0.05 m is incorporated below the PVT module. Also a 10 W (D.C) fan is also used for force mode of operation. The result depicts that in case-III, PV module has 0.7% more efficiency than the efficiency of module in case-II and 1.7% more than the efficiency of module in case-I.