Numerical simulation of the application of Fe3O4 nanofluid in photovoltaic thermal collector system

Abstract

Concerns over climate change and the depletion of nonrenewable energy sources have contributed to the widespread use of solar power. Solar energy is a renewable and environmentally friendly energy source since it can be converted directly into electricity using photovoltaic panels made of semiconducting materials. The production of heat energy from sun irradiation significantly reduces the efficiency of solar panels. In practice, for every 1°C increase in temperature, solar panel efficiency can drop by 0.4% to 0.65%. As a result, the panel's overall performance and electricity-generating capacity might drop. Adding a collector to the solar panel and extracting the heat with a working fluid is one solution to the problem of solar panels losing efficiency owing to thermal energy production. By reducing their thermal energy, the overall efficiency of solar panels can be improved with this method. In this study, the bottom of the PV panel is cooled using a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collector. This technique improved the panel's heat management and boosted its performance. A numerical simulation of a PV panel coupled with a PVT collector using water and Fe3O4 nanofluid as cooling medium was carried out in the software Ansys Fluent. The simulation was run with solar irradiation between 300 and 1100W/m2 , and the nanofluid was used at different volume percentages. The study found that combining the use of water and Fe3O4 nanofluid coolant significantly reduced the thermal energy produced by the PV panel, leading to an increase in overall efficiency. This finding proves the feasibility of using a cooling medium to improve solar panels' performance. The study simulated a variety of flow rates, solar irradiation, and volume concentrations. An efficiency of 12.5%-13.6 % was found for the solar cell, which is a significant increase over the 2.3% efficiency of a PV panel without a cooling mechanism. These findings suggest that increasing solar panel efficiency by using a nanofluid-based cooling technology is achievable