Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Solar Collector ...

Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Solar Collector For Solar Dryer System

Author Name : Amjith S, Arjun Mohanlal, Seethu Vijayan, Gayathri Devi G, Rahul P Raj, Amal S

ABSTRACT

The solar energy in the form of radiation can be directly converted into electricity and heat by using a solar device collector. Conventional solar thermal collectors mostly convert sunlight into heat, furthermore, photovoltaic (PV) panels are usually used only for generating electricity. In here, a solar photovoltaic panel is attempted to use both asan electricity generator and solar thermal at the same time so it's called a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collector for a solar dryer system. The literature related to hybrid PV-T applications are reviewed, and a small scale solar dryer using amorphous type photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) as a collector is designed and tested. An amorphous solar photovoltaic panel of 40 Wrating is used as a solar collector and covered with double-layer glass at the top. The collector output air temperature is found to vary from 35 to 50 during the day with the global solar irradiation of ranges 300 – 1000 W/m2.  The output of electricity varies 4 – 25 Watt.

Keywords: solar dryer, solar module, solar panel, PV-T