Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study
The weak convection mechanism in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems leads to numerous studies dealing with this problem. This study analyzes a new, affordable method to improve convection in PV/Ts and increase their thermal/electrical efficiency. The use of metallic porous materials with high therm...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Babol Noshirvani University of Technology
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.ijee.net/article_199467_2e0100394701dd3becece9c94b32bbfc.pdf |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1832591605470593024 |
|---|---|
| author | H. Farzan |
| author_facet | H. Farzan |
| author_sort | H. Farzan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The weak convection mechanism in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems leads to numerous studies dealing with this problem. This study analyzes a new, affordable method to improve convection in PV/Ts and increase their thermal/electrical efficiency. The use of metallic porous materials with high thermal conductivity is a robust approach to increase the efficiency of PV/Ts by accelerating the cooling rate of PVs. In this study, the robust method is experimentally investigated, and the effectiveness of using porous materials to improve the efficiency of PV/Ts is evaluated. For this purpose, an experimental setup was fabricated, and two scenarios were investigated: a non-porous PV/T and a porous one in which steel wool was used as a porous material. The acquired results revealed that using steel wool reduces the PV temperature by 9.9 oC and increases the outlet temperature by 4.41 oC at the air flow rate of 0.17 kg/s. Lowering the PV temperature increases the electrical power generated while the electrical efficiency improves by nearly 11.18%. The higher outlet temperature causes a higher thermal efficiency; hence, using porous materials increases the thermal efficiency by 50.7%. In conclusion, using porous materials is a robust, affordable approach to improve the thermal/electrical efficiency of PV/Ts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d6ceb2e4d86140d78ba1ebfa06e5e33f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2079-2115 2079-2123 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Babol Noshirvani University of Technology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment |
| spelling | doaj-art-d6ceb2e4d86140d78ba1ebfa06e5e33f2025-01-22T10:46:58ZengBabol Noshirvani University of TechnologyIranica Journal of Energy and Environment2079-21152079-21232025-07-0116344745510.5829/ijee.2025.16.03.06199467Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental StudyH. Farzan0Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Higher Education Complex of Bam, Bam, IranThe weak convection mechanism in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) systems leads to numerous studies dealing with this problem. This study analyzes a new, affordable method to improve convection in PV/Ts and increase their thermal/electrical efficiency. The use of metallic porous materials with high thermal conductivity is a robust approach to increase the efficiency of PV/Ts by accelerating the cooling rate of PVs. In this study, the robust method is experimentally investigated, and the effectiveness of using porous materials to improve the efficiency of PV/Ts is evaluated. For this purpose, an experimental setup was fabricated, and two scenarios were investigated: a non-porous PV/T and a porous one in which steel wool was used as a porous material. The acquired results revealed that using steel wool reduces the PV temperature by 9.9 oC and increases the outlet temperature by 4.41 oC at the air flow rate of 0.17 kg/s. Lowering the PV temperature increases the electrical power generated while the electrical efficiency improves by nearly 11.18%. The higher outlet temperature causes a higher thermal efficiency; hence, using porous materials increases the thermal efficiency by 50.7%. In conclusion, using porous materials is a robust, affordable approach to improve the thermal/electrical efficiency of PV/Ts.https://www.ijee.net/article_199467_2e0100394701dd3becece9c94b32bbfc.pdfelectrical efficiencyphotovoltaicporous materialsthermal efficiencythermal systems |
| spellingShingle | H. Farzan Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study Iranica Journal of Energy and Environment electrical efficiency photovoltaic porous materials thermal efficiency thermal systems |
| title | Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study |
| title_full | Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study |
| title_fullStr | Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study |
| title_short | Improve Efficiency of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems using Porous Materials: An Experimental Study |
| title_sort | improve efficiency of photovoltaic thermal systems using porous materials an experimental study |
| topic | electrical efficiency photovoltaic porous materials thermal efficiency thermal systems |
| url | https://www.ijee.net/article_199467_2e0100394701dd3becece9c94b32bbfc.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT hfarzan improveefficiencyofphotovoltaicthermalsystemsusingporousmaterialsanexperimentalstudy |