Optimum angle of reflective mirrors integrated on PV/Trombe wall: An experimental assessment

The provision of electricity and hot water is among the most significant human requirements at present. A photovoltaic/Trombe wall (PV/TW) system concurrently provides warm water, hot air, and electrical power for domestic usage. To optimize the amount of incident solar radiation, reflective mirrors were put on each side of the front face of the PV/TW system. The current article aims to determine the optimal angle for these mirrors that improve the thermal and electrical efficiency of the system. The findings indicated the utilization of DC fans, reflecting mirrors and water flowing across a heat exchanger improves thermal and electrical performance. The best angle for the impact of reflective mirrors to enhance electrical efficiency is the angle (30°) when using water cooling, which led to a decrease in the temperature of the photovoltaic panel and thus raised the electrical efficiency to reach (13.86 %). Also, the results confirmed that the system’s thermal efficiency that uses two cooling fluids is the highest relative to the other cases, and the system’s thermal efficiency that contains mirrors at 30° was higher than the other two angles. Finally, the addition of reflective mirrors is a favorable option for obtaining higher energy compared to the system without mirrors.