Electrical and thermal performance of SPVT air collector integrated to south roof of a building for cold climatic conditions

• Published in: Solar energy 2024-06, Vol.275, p.112622, Article 112622
• Main Authors: Gupta, Neha, Tiwari, G.N.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Semitransparent photovoltaics; Series connection; SPVT air collector
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2024.112622

•Design of self-sustained BiSPVT-AC to provide thermal and electrical energy for thermal comfort.•The BiSPVT-AC has been analyzed in terms of its overall exergy (high grade energy).•The proposed model can be used for any climatic condition, particularly cold climatic conditions.•The evaluation of overall electrical power is based on the electrical efficiency of the individual SPVT-air collectors. In this paper, semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (SPVT) air collectors (SPVT-AC) are integrated into the south roof of a building for cold climatic conditions and are referred to as BiSPVT-AC. In order to evaluate the electrical and thermal performance of the suggested system, these collectors are connected in series. Analytical expressions for room air, absorber plate, and solar cell temperatures have been derived and used for numerical computations. Based on these results, thermal exergy, electrical energy and overall exergy have been evaluated. The following conclusions have been derived as a result of the computation:•For a given mass flow rate (0.02 kg/s), the optimum number of collectors connected in series is 6.•The overall exergy has been significantly influenced by mass flow rate. The daily total exergy increases by 122.57 % with a change in mass flow rate from 0.005 kg/s to 0.08 kg/s.