Design and performance analysis on a heat pipe solar PV/T collector

A three-dimensional unsteady model is established to study the cooling performance for a heat pipe photovoltaic/thermal (HP-PV/T) collector. The numerical models are experimentally verified using the published research results. The fin groups (circle, rectangle) which combined with the condenser section of heat pipe with different quantities are designed to identify the optimal finned condenser type for the HP-PV/T collector. The influence of fin shape and number of condensing sections of heat pipe on equivalent efficiency performance of PV/T collector is analyzed. The results indicate that the circle fin groups with the number of four showed the highest thermal conductivity and the best thermal stability compared to the rectangular one. Furthermore, the impact of the mass flow rate of water, inlet temperature and material of the fin groups on the thermal and electricity performance of the HP-PV/T collector are investigated. When the fin groups are being operated simultaneously, the total energy production of the HP-CPV/T collector using copper is higher than that using steel. The thermal and electricity efficiencies of the HP-CPV/T collector using the cooper fin groups are observed with the value of 64.3% and 64.8%, respectively.