Photovoltaic storage solar collector: Experimental assessment

This article introduces a new design of solar storage collectors integrated with a PV panel for domestic applications. Two identical practical models were built to test the performance of the collectors by analyzing and comparing them with the classical storage solar collector. In the first model, the solar cells were mounted on the tank’s front inclined surface to act as a black absorber surface, while in the second model, the absorbent plate was metallic and dyed in a pale black color. A number of experiments have been conducted on both models to validate and assess their performance. For the no-load conditions, the maximum storage temperature was about 77 °C and 81 °C for the new and conventional models respectively. For the load conditions, the mean storage temperature recorded the maximum value of 77 °C and 74 °C for the new model and conventional models respectively. Electrical efficiency increased as a result of removing warm water from the model. The highest electrical efficiency recorded for the new system was 15% at 9 a.m., with a water flow rate of 0.085 liters/min. On the other hand, the thermal efficiency of the new system is lower than the traditional system. The highest thermal efficiency recorded for the new system was 69% at 10 a.m., with a water flow rate of 0.085 liters/min. At the same time, the highest thermal efficiency for the conventional system was 88% at 11 a.m., with a water flow rate of 0.085 liters/min. It was also found that increasing the mass flow of the fluid drawn from the collector increases the thermal efficiency of the old and new designs.