Alternative determination of critical mass flow rate for the photovoltaic solar thermal collector in forced fluid mode

From existing equations, which have been validated by experimental measurements in the literature, the photovoltaic (PV) cell efficiency for the photovoltaic solar thermal collector (PVT), cooled by forced fluid flow, is shown to be a function of the mass flow rate. This study shows, with calculus, that there is, in general, a critical mass flow rate which corresponds to the maximum PV cell efficiency. The derived new equations are applicable to laminar regime and transition or turbulent flow regimes. These equations can yield directly the critical mass flow rate, as compared with existing methods that use observation on the results obtained by repeated computational trials.

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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