Performance Optimization of Photovoltaic Thermal System under UAE Climate Condition: Experimental and Simulation Analysis

One of the worldwide challenges is reducing energy consumption to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are associated with energy production and use. This research focused on evaluating and assessing both electrical and thermal performance of the PVT system, under UAE climate conditions, in the first phase of the study. Then, enhance the performance of PVT, by optimizing some of the design parameters. In the first part, the performance of PVT, in comparison with PV panel, was tested experimentally. The collected data from the experiment were utilized to develop a simulation model to represent PVT by using TRNSYS software. The simulation model was used to optimize the PVT performance by changing some of the design parameters. The design parameters were: number of collector tubes, tubes diameter, and PVT panel area, and water flow rates. Experimental results showed that the enhancement in electrical efficiency of PVT in winter was 0.7%, which is equal to 5% more in comparison with PV. The results in summer were 1.2%, which is equal to 8.9% more in comparison with PV panel. The overall PVT efficiency in winter was 53.8%, and in summer the overall PVT efficiency was 57.1%. The simulation results showed that the optimum number of collector tubes was 12 tubes; the optimum tube diameter was 0.04 m; and the water flow rate was 2.5 GPM in both winter and summer. In addition, results showed that changing the PVT area was not feasible. There was no enhancement in the overall efficiency. Based on the identified optimum values of design parameters, the optimized model was created. The results from the optimized model showed further enhancement in comparison with the reference model. The percentage of electrical efficiency enhancement of PVT was 7.2% in winter and 7.5% in summer, compared to the reference model. In addition, the research compared the electrical performance of the PV panel with the PVT optimized model. The electrical efficiency of the PVT optimized model provided higher electrical efficiency than the PV panel by 6% during winter and 10% during summer.