Abstract
As a result of increasing demands of efficient renewable energy systems as well as the hazards posed by high operating temperatures of the photovoltaic modules, advanced cooling and heat recovery solutions are now necessary. The paper involves an experimental and AI-filed research on a solar collector (photovoltaic/thermal, PV/T) with a combination of a hybrid solar chimney (HSC) to improve the electrical and thermal efficiency in hot climatic conditions, under hot weather conditions. The system was examined using three cooling configurations: air cooling, water cooling, and combined bi-fluid cooling. Energy balance equations were developed to evaluate electrical and thermal efficiencies, and experimental measurements were conducted to assess photovoltaic module temperature and system performance under different operating conditions. A simulation model based on the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) was implemented in MATLAB and trained using experimental data to capture nonlinear interactions between thermal and electrical parameters. The results showed that bi-fluid cooling achieved the lowest module temperature, leading to a significant improvement in electrical efficiency. Maximum thermal and electrical efficiencies of 68.21% and 19.3%, respectively, were obtained using the hybrid PV/T–HSC configuration. In addition, the integration of the solar chimney enhanced buoyancy-driven airflow and heat dissipation, reinforcing the synergistic effect of bi-fluid cooling and the hybrid system design. The good agreement between simulations and experimental measurements validates the soundness of our AI-based model. The results as a whole indicate that the hybrid PV/T–HSC system can be an effective way of enhancing energy conversion efficiency and thermal management, with potential uses in agricultural drying, space heating/cooling, ventilation and domestic hot water supply.
Abstract by the authors, reproduced under the CC BY 4.0 licence. Original publication via the link below.