ZEMCH 2019 International Conference Proceedings April.2020 | Page 374
Comparative Analysis for Improvement Thermal
Performance of Air‐type PVT Collector with
Triangular Baffles
Ji‐Suk Yu 1 , Jin‐Hee Kim 2 and Jun‐Tae Kim 3 *
3
*
1
2
Energy System Engineering, Kongju National University, Cheonan, Korea, Republic of
Green Energy Technology Research Center, Kongju National University, Cheonan, Korea, Republic of
Energy System Engineering, Kongju National University, Cheonan, Korea, Republic of
Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: Tel.: +82‐41‐521‐9333
Abstract: PVT (Photovoltaic Thermal) collector is a device that produces electricity and
simultaneously uses a heat source transmitted to back side of the PV. The PVT collector is divided
into liquid‐type and air‐type according to the heating medium. As a particular advantage, air‐type
PVT system is easy to manage and can be directly used for heating. The performance of air‐type PVT
collector is determined by various factors such as the air gap height and air flow path (by baffles) in
the collector. Baffles are installed in the PVT collector to improve the thermal performance of the
collector by generating turbulence. However, the air flow that affects the performance of the PVT
collector can vary depending on the number and placement of the baffles. Thus, the flow design using
baffles in the collector is important. In this paper, the performance of an air‐type PVT collector
concerning the arrangement of triangular baffles is analyzed through a simulation program. For this
purpose, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed with NX program to compare
and analyze the optimum conditions to improve the performance of the collector.
Keywords: Air‐type PVT collector; CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamic); Thermal performance;
Baffles
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ZEMCH 2019 International Conference l Seoul, Korea