Numerical investigation of using nanofluid coolant in PVT system

In this thesis, a numerical study of a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system with nanofluid was conducted due to its increasing popularity as clean energy in recent years. The analyzed PVT collector consists of glass, top transparent ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) layer, monocrystalline silicon solar cell, bottom transparent EVA layer, tedlar polyvinyl fluoride (tedlar) layer, thermal paste, copper absorber plate and copper tubes. The PVT collector was designed in 3D in order to investigate the effect of nanofluid use in the PVT system. Finite element method was used for numerical analysis. Studies in the literature were considered for the selection of the dimensions of the PV panel and the materials of the layers that consist of the PV panel. The layers that forms the photovoltaic panel were examined in detail in the analysis. Hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN) material, which was not used as a part of the coolants in PVT systems before was used in this numerical study. First of all, the results obtained by the numerical analysis for hBN/water nanofluid and water were compared. Then, analyzes were performed for determining the effect of different hBN concentrations, flow rate and hBN nanoparticle diameter on the performance of the PVT system. Fluid outlet temperature, cell temperature, thermal, electrical and overall efficiency were determined for the PVT collector. The results show that the hBN/water nanofluid improves the performance of the PVT system.