Approach for the modelling of hybrid photovoltaic–thermal solar collector

In this paper, a theoretical and experimental study of a photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) hybrid solar collector is presented. The studied system is constituted by a sheet and tube placed below the surface on which the solar cells are assembled to extract heat from the photovoltaic module. The mathematical model is based on the equations of the energy balances written for the various nodes of the system, and the coupled differential equations obtained are solved by using the finite differences method. The temperatures of the various layers of solar PV/T collector and the coolant temperature are predicted. With the hybrid solar collector presented in this article, the temperature at the maximum photovoltaic cell is reached 53 °C; we see that the integration of the heat exchanger at the photovoltaic collector reduces the temperature of the PV cell that which increases its efficiency, in the other hand, the gain of these calories is used for heating the fluid. We obtained an overall efficiency which is the sum of the electrical efficiency and thermal efficiency for irradiation conditions chosen equal to 64%. The results of experimental study were compared with theoretical data and the model was validated.