Simulation and Experimental Evaluation of Linear Parabolic Concentrator Equipped with Photovoltaic-Thermal System

Now a day most countries are interested in renewable energy due to the many problems with fossil fuel use. One of the best types of renewable energies is solar energy and can be produced in electrical, thermal and hybrid forms by photovoltaic cells equipped with thermal collectors. In this research a systemLinear parabolic focusers equipped with photovoltaic cells were designed and simulated in Optic Ray Tracing and Solidworks software and compared with experimental results. The thermal collector was simulated in a photovoltaic-thermal hybrid system with two longitudinal and transverse arrangements with internal diameters of 8 to 14 mm at three discharge levels.Simulation results of two longitudinal and transverse arrangements showed that the thermal efficiency in the longitudinal arrangement was better than the transverse ones. and by increasing diameter from 8 to 12 mm the thermal efficiency increased and the thermal efficiency from 12 to 14 mm alignment of the pipes did not change much. Also by increasing the fluid discharge from 1 to 3 l/min the thermal efficiency due to the decrease in thermal losses and the electrical efficiency due to the decrease in temperature Photovoltaic cell surface increased. Comparison of the simulation results and the experimental evaluation showed that the maximum thermal and electrical efficiency for the data Simulations were 61.18% and 12.58%, respectively, and for field data is calculated 58.14% and 12.03%, respectively.