Performance evaluation of a photovoltaic : Thermal solar drying system

Abstract EN

A photovoltaic-thermal (pvt) solar drying system consists of a hybrid solar collector that combines thermal and photovoltaic systems in one single hybrid generating unit.

It generates both thermal and electrical energies simultaneously.

The need for an external electrical source to circulate the working fluid through the drying system can be eliminated by using this hybrid system.

A new design of a photovoltaic-thermal solar drying system using a double-pass photovoltaic-thermal solar air heater with compound parabolic concentrators (cpc) and fins was successfully developed and fabricated at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

This collector was tested under an actual Malaysia climatic conditions to study its performance over a range of operating conditions.

The test set-up, instrumentation and measurement are described further.

A series of experiments were conducted based on the ashrae standard.

Results of the test are presented and discussed.