International Journal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110

1. INTRODUCTION
Solar energy is one of the most important sources of clean
energy.Solar thermal energy systems convert solar energy
into heat and solar photovoltaic systems convert solar energy
into electrical energy. In solar thermal energy systems
electrical energy is one of the inputs for extracting the useful
energy. A single unit which is obtained by combining the
solar thermal energy system with photovoltaic panels or solar
cells pasted on the absorber plate is known as a hybrid
collector or photovoltaic thermal collector (PV/T). A hybrid
PV/T collector produces both thermal and electrical energy
simultaneously. This conceptincreases the electrical
efficiency of photovoltaic systems by increased cooling rate
and overall efficiency of the hybrid unit. Hybrid PV/T
collector can significantly reduce overall energy use that
might required to supply for circulating working fluid for
thermal collector and electrical energy required to cool the
PV panels to improve their performance and life. A number
of theoretical, numerical and experimental studies have been
reported on the solar Hybrid PV/T air collector using air or
water as the working fluid. Integrated PV/T collector based
energy system produce both thermal energy and electrical
energy, Kern and Russel [1]. Hybrid energy systems (PV/T)
can be integrated to rooftops of any building to produce
electrical energy, for lighting, hot fluid for space heating and
drying purposes, Agarwal and Tiwari, [2]. For different
months and cities, for a 1.2 m
2
PV/T, monthly total energy
was varying from 35-60 kWh and monthly total exergy from
716 kWh with air as the working substance for Indian
climates. The monthly variation of exergy has a similar
behavior like monthly thermal energy for all weather
conditions, Joshi and Tiwari [3]. The thermal efficiency
increases with increase in height and number of fins of a
double pass flat plate solar air heater with longitudinal fins,
whereas the entropy generation was inversely proportional to
the height and number of fins, Naphon [4].
The annual maximum heat and electricity were obtained
in the case of continuous withdrawal from hybrid
photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) solar water heating system,
Dubey and Tiwari, [5]. As per the analytical expression,
overall thermal efficiency of integrated PV/T solar system
increases with increase in constant flow rate and decreases
with increase in constant collection temperature, Tiwari et
al.[6]. Integration of a PV/T and Earth Air Heat Exchanger
(EAHE) system, with the green house would save overall
energy consumption of green house Nayak and Tiwari,
[7].The instantaneous energy and exergy efficiency values of
PV/T air heaters varies from 55% to 65% and 12% to13%
respectively, Joshi and Tiwari, [8].The collectors fully
covered by PV modules and air flowing below the absorber
plate give better performance in terms of thermal energy,
electrical energy and exergy gain in the analysis of N hybrid
photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) air collectors connected in
series, Dubey et.al.[9]. The largest irreversibility was
occurring at the conventional solar collectors in which
collector efficiency was lowest. The experimental results also
revealed the use of passive techniques such as staggered
sheets and fins. The efficiency of solar collector has been
increased approximately up to 30% in comparison with the
conventional solar collector, Ucar and Inalli [10]. The
photovoltaic roof with ventilated air gap was suitable for the
application in summer, because this integration could leads to
low cooling loads and high photovoltaic conversion
efficiency,Wang et al.[11].Substantial steps need to be taken
MODELING AND SIMULATION OF A DOUBLE PASS, HYBRID -TYPE (PV/T)
SOLAR AIR HEATER WITH SLATS

M. Srinivas and S. Jayaraj

Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Calicut, Calicut-673601, India
Email Address msrinivas@nitc.ac.in, sjayaraj@nitc.ac.in

ABSTRACT

A solar hybrid energy system having photovoltaic and thermal (PV/T) devices, which produces both thermal and electrical
energies simultaneously is considered for analysis. A double pass hybrid solar air (PV/T) heater with slats is modeled and
fabricated to study its thermal and electrical performance. Air as a heat removing fluid is made to flow through upper and
lower channels of the collector. The collector is modeled in such way that the absorber plate is partially covered by PV
modules. The raise in temperature of the solar cell is expected to decrease its electrical performance. Thin metallic strips
called slats are attached longitudinally at the bottom side of the absorber plate to improve the system performance by
increasing the cooling rate of the absorber plate. Thermal and electrical performances of the whole system at varying cooling
conditions are presented. The proposed model can be successfully used for evaluating the effect of different operating
parameters under different ambient conditions for predicting the overall performance of the system. The overall thermal
efficiency at mass flow rate 0.0123 [kgs
-1
] by experiments and analytically is 36.9 % and 37.4% respectively.


Keywords: Double pass, Photovoltaic, Solar air heater, Slats, Thermal

International Journal of
Energy & Technology
www.journal-enertech.eu
ISSN 2035-911X
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 2

towards reducing the cost to make PV/T collectors
morecompetitive, Charalambous et al.[12]. The thermal
efficiency of a PV/T dual fluid collector with metal absorber
obtained was nearly 80%, and electrical performance of the
system was satisfactory, and still scope for further
improvement of cooling the photovoltaic panels was noted,
Assoa et al.[13]. The presence of porous media had improved
the thermal efficiency (theoretical and experimental) of the
double pass solar air heater, Sopian et al.[14]. The
photovoltaic panel temperature decreases with increase in air
gap between panels and roof of building. Gan [15]. The
systematic evolution of photovoltaic technologies for energy
production, namely first, second, third generation PV and
their recent developments are discussed. The efficiency of the
current photovoltaic technology could be improved by using
thin films and higher concentrations of photosensitive
materials. Solar cells produced by nano structured materials
shows reduced weight than conventional solar cells, M V
Biagini et al. [16]. The effect of solid volume fraction on
buoyancy flow inside a solar collector with flat-plate cover
and undulating absorber is analysed numerically. The CuO
nano particles with the highest solid volume fraction proved
to be most effective in enhancing performance of heat
transfer rate than base fluid. Average heat transfer is found to
be higher for convection than radiation. Nasrin and Alim.
[17]. It is observed that the present researchers tried to
improve the efficiency of box type collector .Very few works
were attempted to extract accumulated heat in the absorber
plate (PV panel) with fins, and concluded that there is still
scope for performance improvement by heat extraction.
Almost 90% of above reported works were on single pass
PV/T collectors.
In the present work, a new design of double pass hybrid
(PV/T) solar air heater with slats (DPHSAH) was studied
analytically and experimentally. This design is a beautiful
blend of solar thermal energy system (double pass solar air
heater with slats) and solar photovoltaic system. To the best
of authors knowledge no work had been reported with slats
attached to absorber plate. Monocrystalline silicon solar cells
were used in the device. A computer code (C- language) was
made in computing analytical results.
2.MATHEMATICAL MODEL
A steady state one dimensional analysis is done on the
system. The governing equations are obtained which involves
the energy balance equations at various parts of the collector.
The heat transfer model is as shown in the Fig.1.
To simplify the analysis following assumptions were made.
i. The system is in quasi - steady state
ii. One dimensional heat conduction is good
approximation for the present study
iii. Temperature of the glass cover, PV panels
(absorber plate) and back plate vary only in the
air flow direction
iv. The glass cover, PV panels (absorber plate) and
back plate are at uniform temperature
v. Good contact between the PV panels and
absorber plate, slats and the back plate is
achieved
vi. The ohmic losses in the solar cell are negligible
2.1 Energy balance
The energy balance equations are written for various
segments of the PV/T hybrid air heater with slats as given
below.
(i) Glass Cover
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
p g rpg f g cgf w g cgw s g rgs g
T T h T T h T T h T T h S + + + =
1 1
o (1)
(ii) Absorber Plate
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
0
2 2 1 1
2 2
1
1 1
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
+ + + + = +
z
sl
c
f p cpf f p cpf bp p rpbp g p rpg pv p g p g
dZ
dT
knA
A
T T h T T h T T h T T h SP P S q o t o t

(2)
(iii) Bottom Plate
( ) ( ) ( )
a bp b f bp cbpf
D z
sl
c
bp p rpbp
T T U T T h
dz
dT
knA
A
T T h + =
|
.
|

\
|
+
=
2 2
1

(3)
(iv) Metal slat
Ldz T T h
dz
dT
kA
dz
dT
kA
D z
z
f sl cslf
D z
sl
z
sl
}
=
= = =

=
|
.
|

\
|
+
|
.
|

\
|
0
2 2
0
) ( 2
(4)

(v) Air stream between glass cover and collector plate
) ( ) (
1 1 1 1
1 1
.
f p cpf f g cgf
f f
T T h T T h
dx
dT
W
C m
+ = (5)
(vi) Air stream between absorber plate and bottom plate
}
=
=
+
+ =
D z
z
f p cpf
c
f bp cbpf
f p cpf
f f
dz T T L nh
A
T T h
T T h
dx
dT
W
C m
0
2 2 2 2
2 2
2 2
.
) ( 2
1
) (
) (

(6)
2.2 Analytical solution
The variablesT
g
, T
p
, and T
bp
can be eliminated from
Eqs. (5) and (6) by substituting Eqs (1) (4) in to them.The
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 3

following two linear first-order differential equations
areobtained.
3 2 2 1 1 1
A T A T A DT
f f f
= (7)
3 2 2 1 1
2
B T B T B DT
f f f
= (8)
D
dx
d
=

Where A
1
, A
2
, A
3
, B
1
, B
2
and B
3
are the constants
obtained through algebraic manipulations. The Eqs. (7) and
(8) can be solved by using operational method in Closed-form
solutions with the following boundary conditions.
At x = 0,
a f
T T =
1
(9)
At x = L,
2 1 f f
T T = (10)
Hence, the temperatures of the fluid in both channels as a
function of distance in flow direction (x-direction) can be
obtained.
( ) ( )
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

+ =
3
2 1 2 1
3 1 3 1
2
2
2 2 2 2 1 1
1
1
1
1
B
A B B A
B A A B
B e B D C e B D C
B
T
x D x D
f

(11)
2 1 2 1
3 1 3 1
2 1 2
2 1
A B B A
B A A B
e C e C T
x D x D
f

+ + =
(12)
Where
C
1
, C
2
: the constants obtained by applying the boundary
conditions into Eqs. (11) and (12).
D
1
, D
2
: the roots obtained from the second-order differential
operator equation.
3. PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
The instantaneous thermal efficiency for PV/T DPHSAH
is expressed as
( )
}
}

=
dt S
dt T T c m
i o
th
.
q (13)
The instantaneous photovoltaic efficiency for PV/T
DPHSAH is expressed as
}
}
=
dt S
dt P
E
pvt
q (14)
Where SP P
pv pv g E
q o t = (15)
Where ( ) | |
ref pav ref pv
T T = 0054 . 0 1 q q (16)
Where
ref
is the reference efficiency of solar cell at T
ref
=
25C and the mean cell temperature T
pav
is obtained by
integrating the function T
p
(x) as follows
( )
}
}
=
=
=
=
=
L x
x
L x
x
p
pav
dx
dx x T
T
0
0
(17)
The combined photovoltaic thermal efficiency of the
system is expressed as
( )
pv th
E
i o
o th
Sdt
dt
P
dt T T c m
q q q + =
+
=
}
} }
)
38 . 0
(
) (
.

(18)

Fig. 1. Physical model of double pass hybrid photovoltaic
thermal (PV/T) air heater with slats.
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 4

4. HYBRID (PV/T) SYSTEM DESIGN
The double pass hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) solar
air heater (DPHSAH) consisted of aluminum absorber plate
of dimensions 1 m x 2 m (W x L) and thickness 2 mm. The
height of the upper and lower channels was 5 cm (each). The
sides and bottom of the collector were insulated with a 5 cm
thick layer of thermocol. Nine slats of size 5 cm height, 2 m
long and thickness of 2 mm (each) were fixed longitudinally
at equal distance at the bottom side of the absorber plate. Top
surface of the absorber plate and lower channels were coated
with black paint for increasing the absorptivity of the system.
A toughened or tempered glass of dimensions 1 m x 2 m (W x
L) and thickness 2 mm was provided as front cover for
reducing convection heat losses from the collector. The PV
modules (mono-crystalline silicon solar cells) of glass to
tedlar type each rated at 25Wp having dimensions 545 mm x
445 mm, were fixed over an absorber plate. Each PV module
consisted of 36 solar cells, connected in series. Two rows,
with four panels in each were connected in series and finally
these two arrays are connected in parallel for obtaining rated
(200 Wp) nominal peak power as shown in Fig. 2 (b). Series
connection of solar cells or PV modules enhanced voltage
and parallel connection of solar cells or PV modules
enhanced current. The total area covered by solar cells was
1.054 m
2
. And the packing factor or the fraction of the total
collector area covered by the solar cells is 0.527.
Specifications of DPHSAH aregiven in Table1 and Table
2.The double pass PV/T solar collector is shown
schematically in Fig. 2(a), and schematic representation of
PV modules connections is shown in Fig. 2 (b).
Fig. 2 (a). Double pass hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PV/T)
solar air heater with slats.
Fig. 2 (b). schematic representations of PV module
connections.
Table 1:Specifications of double pass solar air heater with
slats
Element of system Sizes of element
Absorber plate
( Aluminium absorber )

(1 m X 2 m), (thickness 2mm)
Bottom Plate
(Aluminium plate)
(1 m X 2.1 m), (thickness 2mm)
Slats
(Aluminium)
(9 per 1 meter width), (length = 2
m each)
Top Glazing
(Toughened glass)
(1 m x 2 m), (thickness 2 mm)
Insulation (Thermocol) 5 cm thick

Table 2: Specifications of double pass solar air heater with
slats
Parameter Value
Nominal peak power (W
p
) 25 Wp
Maximum power voltage (V
mpp
) 16.8 V
Maximum power current (I
mpp
) 1.49 A
Open circuit voltage (V
oc
) 21.2 V
Short circuit current (I
sc
) 1.79 A
Solar cell efficiency (
c
) 13%
Module efficiency (
m
) 10%
Length of a PV module (l) 545 mm
Width of a PV module (w) 445 mm

5. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
PV panels made of mono-crystalline silicon solar cells
were pasted on the absorber plate of a box framed solar air
heater to obtain the hybrid (PV/T) solar air heater. An air
blower for circulating the air was fitted at the ground end of
the system. Air entered through the upper channel formed by
the glass cover and the photovoltaic panels and was heated
directly by the sun and the channel walls. After that it flows
through the lower channel formed by the back plate with slats
and the absorber plate. The slats fixed at the back of the
absorber plate (photovoltaic panel) increases the heat transfer
rate to the air and by conducting heat to bottom plate thus
enhances the efficiency of the system by introducing
sufficient turbulence in the lower channel. The setup is
situated in open sky avoiding nearby shading effect which
will reduce the solar insolation effect on the system as shown
in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. The double pass hybrid photovoltaic
thermal (PV/T) solar air heater (DPHSAH) is kept 11
0
facing
south at the Solar Energy Center located in National Institute
of Technology Calicut.
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 5


Fig. 3. Double pass hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) solar
air heater with slats.

Fig. 4. Instrumentation used for the experimentation.
5.1 Instrumentation
The following parameters were measured during
experimentation:
i. Inlet air temperature
ii. Outlet air temperature
iii. Absorber plate temperature (PV panel)
iv. Slat temperature
v. Bottom plate temperature
vi. Solar insolation
vii. Load current
viii. Load voltage
5.2 Experimental procedure
The PV/T collector was tested at nominal operating
conditions in order to study the electrical, thermal and overall
performance of the system. The solar radiation was measured
using a digital pyranometer installed parallel to the collector
plane. Electrical air blower was used to produce air flow in
the collector and it was controlled through an autotransformer
for different mass flow rates. The air mass flow rate was
determined by the orifice meter which was connected at the
outlet pipe of the collector. The flow rate was varied from
0.005 to 0.0123 kg/s. The minimum flow rate corresponds to
1 cm head and maximum flow rate corresponds to 6cm head
of water column in U tube differential manometer of orifice
meter. Calibrated Chromel Alumel (K type) thermocouples
with digital temperature indicator are used to measure
temperatures at several locations of the system. Ambient air
temperature and collector outlet air temperatures are
measured by digital thermometers provided at suitable
locations. Load was connected to the PV cells through a 50
, 5A rheostat for measuring the load voltage and load
current multimeters were used separately. The PV/T solar
collector was operated at a fixed mass flow rate from sunrise
to sunset under clear blue sky. All the measurable parameters
are recorded at every 1 hour time interval. Data collected was
used to determine the thermal, electrical and overall
efficiency of the system. The system was operated for
different mass flow rates to study the performance variation
of the PV/T solar collector.
6. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
The performance of a photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) solar
collector can be described by a combination of efficiency
terms.
100
A
=
c
th
SA
T c m
q (19)
100 =
cell
L L
el
SA
V I
q

(20)
) 38 . 0 / ( ) (
0 el th th
q q q + =

(21)
Overall thermal efficiency (Eq.3) from a PV/T system is
given by the combination of thermal efficiency from the
PV/T system and electrical efficiency from the PV/T system
divided by electrical power generation efficiency (0.38) of a
conventional power plant. Huang et al.[18]. Since thermal
energy is low grade energy and electrical energy is high grade
energy, electrical power generation efficiency is used to
express electrical energy in terms of low grade energy.
6.1 Uncertainty analysis
Determination Uncertainty in the measured results of
experimentation is important.
Root Sum Square method can be used to determine
the combined effect of random measurement errors.
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 6

According Root sum Square method to the result R is a given
function of independent variables x
1,
x
2,
x
3
x
n.
Thus R= R (x
1,
x
2,
x
3
x
n
) (22)

Let w
R
be the uncertainty in the result and w
1,
w
2,
w
3 .
w
n
be the uncertainties in the independent variables. If the
uncertainties in the independent variables are all given with
the same odds, then the uncertainty in the result having these
odds is given as ( Holman[19]).
2 2
3
3
2
2
2
2
1
1
.......
|
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
+ +
|
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
+
|
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
+
|
|
.
|

\
|

c
c
=
n
n
R
w
x
R
w
x
R
w
x
R
w
x
R
w
(23)
Uncertainties associated with the individual elements of
the DPHSAH are given in Table 3.The uncertainity in the
results of calculations of thermal efficiency was obtained as
4.2%. Similarly, the uncertainty in the calculation of
electrical efficiency is 0.2% and the uncertainty in the
calculation of overall thermal efficiency is 5.6%.
Table 3:Uncertainties associated with the individual elements
of the DPHSAH
Equipment Measurement Error
Thermocouples PV/Tairtemperature 1
0
C
Pyranometer Irradiance 5%
Multimeter PV current 1%
Multimeter PV voltage 1.4%

7. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The maximum temperature rise of the fluid at different air
mass flow rates is shown in Fig. 5. It has been observed that
with increase in air flow rates, for a fixed solar insolation (S =
625 [Wm
-2
]) ambient temperature (T
a
= 301 [K]), analytical
maximum temperature rise is showing a decreasing trend.
This may be due to the extraction of system accumulated
thermal energy at higher mass flow rates. Experimental
results are also found to follow the trend shown by the
analytical results; the variation in the experimental results
obtained can be due to the variation in outdoor ambient
conditions.

Fig. 5. Variation of air temperature with air mass flow rate.
Analytically, air temperature rise is showing an increasing
trend with solar insolation, thismay be due to the increase in
the available thermal energy owing to the increase in
insolation on the collector. However, higher the mass flow
rate of the air to the system, for the same insolation and
ambient air temperature (Ta = 301 [K]) lower the rise in air
temperature due to heat capacity of air as shown in the Fig. 6.
It is also observed that experimental results are following the
trend of the analytical results, with little variation due to
uncontrollable outdoor conditions.

Fig. 6. Variation of air temperature against solar insolation at
different air mass flow rates.
Figure 7 shows that temperature dependent electrical
efficiency of the (PV/T) system increases with increase in air
mass flow rates for fixed ambient conditions (Ta = 301 [K]).
It is also observed that, increase in solar insolation increases
the absorber (PV panel) temperature, which reduces the
electrical performance of the system, as shown in the Fig. 7.
Fig. 8 shows that unlike electrical performance of the system
the thermal performance increases for fixed ambient
temperature and air flow rate to the system. This is due to
the absorber plate (PV panel) being subjected to higher
temperatures at higher solar insolation owing to lower
specific heat property of aluminium.


Fig. 7. Variation of electrical efficiency against mass flow
rate at different solar insolations (analytical).
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 7

Fig. 8. Variation of thermal efficiency against mass flow rate
at different solar insolations (analytical).

Fig. 9. Variation of electrical efficiency against different air
mass flow rates.
Electrical efficiency (both analytical and experimental)
increases with mass flow rate of air as shown in Fig.9. It is
observed that the higher mass flow rates are able to extract
the accumulated thermal energy from the absorber plate (PV
panels), and thus improving the electrical performance of the
system. The analytical results are found to follow the trend of
the experimental results.
Thermal efficiency (both analytical and experimental)
increases with mass flow rate of air as represented in Fig. 10.
It is observed that the higher mass flow rates are able to
extract the accumulated thermal energy from the absorber
plate (PV panels), and thus improving the thermal
performance of the system. The analytical results are found to
follow the trend of the experimental results.

Fig. 10. Variation of thermal efficiency against different air
mass flow rates.
Figure 11 shows that overall thermal efficiency (both
analytical and experimental) increases with mass flow rate of
air. It is observed that higher air flow rates improve the
thermal, electrical and overall performance of the system.
Overall performance is obtained by converting high grade
energy (electrical energy) in to equivalent low grade energy
(heat). It is also observed that, most of the time there is a
chance for fluctuations in outdoor conditions with respect to
solar insolation and ambient air temperature, which causes
the intermediate drop and rise of the thermal, electrical and
overall performance of the system. This uneven heating and
cooling causes regular expansions and contractions within the
layers of structure of PV panels (a glass to tedlar
monocrystalline silicon solar cells are covered both sides by
EVA with top cover as ARC), which is the main reason for
the limited life period of PV panels (25 years for mono-
crystalline silicon solar cells). If the system is operated at
higher air mass flow rates this draw back on life and electrical
performance of the PV panel can be reduced, thus the overall
performance of the system can be increased by operating at
higher air mass flow rates. It is also revealed that when
electrical performance is lower due to higher absorber plate
temperature (PV panel), thermal performance is higher, and
thus loss in electrical performance is compensated in thermal
performance of the system. At times when thermal
performance is lower due to lower ambient temperature,
electrical performance is higher due to smaller PV panel
temperature. However, electrical performance is always
controlled by the solar insolation.
Fig. 11. Variation of overall efficiency against different air mass
flow rates.
8. CONCLUSIONS
Hybrid photovoltaic-thermal solar collector with slats was
analytically and experimentally studied with respect to its
operating characteristics. Solar cells generate more electricity
when it is exposed to higher solar insolation, its efficiency
drops when temperature of the solar cells increases. Results
show that electricity production in a PV/T hybrid module
decreases with increasing panel temperature. At times when
electrical performance of the PV panel is lower due to higher
absorber plate temperature, corresponding thermal
performance is higher. Thus loss in electrical energy output is
compensated by thermal gain of the system, which makes
hybrid system highly relevant for energy conversion. It is
important to use slats as an integral part of the absorber
surface in order to achieve better efficiencies. In this case,
both thermal and electrical output of the hybrid PV/T solar
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 8

collector is expected to improve sufficiently. At a mass flow
rate of 0.0123 [kgs
-1
] the electrical, thermal efficiencies by
experiments and analytically equals to 6.05%, 21% and 9.3%,
12% respectively.
APPENDIX
Heat transfer coefficients
The different heat transfer coefficients for each surface in
the solar air heater system can be evaluated as follows:
(i) Wind convection coefficient
The convection heat transfer coefficient from the top
cover due to wind is correlated by Watmuff et al.,
w a
V h 3 . 3 8 . 2 + =
Correlation suggested by (Ammari [20]) proposed by
(Watmuff et al.[21])
V
w
= average wind velocity [m s
-1
]
(ii) Convection coefficient for the channel flow
For laminar flow region (Re < 2300) (Heaton et al.[22])
correlation, suggested by (Ammari[19])

17 . 1
71 . 1
Pr Re 00563 . 0 1
Pr Re 00190 . 0
4 . 5
(

+
(

+ =
L
D
L
D
Nu
h
h

For turbulent region or for Re > 2300, the following
(Kays and Craw ford [23]) correlation can be used
8 . 0
Re 0158 . 0 = Nu

u
h
D
= Re
Pr = Prandtl number
Re = Reynolds number
D
h
= hydraulic diameter = 2d[m]
d= plate spacing [m]
(iii) Inner surface heat transfer coefficients in ducts
For turbulent flows inside tubes (for Re > 2300)
(Petukhov[24]) correlation
11 . 0
3
2
1 Pr
8
7 . 12 07 . 1
Pr Re
8
(

|
.
|

\
|
+
=
w
f
f
Nu

Here
( )
2
64 . 1 Re ln 79 . 0

= f
f is friction factor
is viscosity of air at its temperature[Nsm
-2
]

w
is viscosity of air at wall temperature [Nsm
-2
]

perimeter wetted
area flow
D
h
= 4
The radiation heat transfer coefficients between the
parallel plates can be computed using following equations.
( )( )( )
( )
a g
s g s g s g g
rgs
T T
T T T T T T
h

+ +
=
2 2
oc

( )( )
1
1 1
2 2
+
+ +
=
bp p
bp p bp p
rpbp
T T T T
h
c c
o

( )( )
1
1 1
2 2
+
+ +
=
g p
p g p g
rpg
T T T T
h
c c
o

REFERENCES
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rd
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1970.
NOMENCLATURE
A slat cross section area [m
2
]
A
c
area of absorber plate [m
2
]
A
cells
solar cells area [m
2
]
C specific heat [kJkg
-1
K
-1
]
D depth of the slat [m]
D
h
hydraulicdiameter [m]
H heat transfer coefficient [WK
-1
m
-2
]
I
L
current [ampere]
k thermal conductivity [Wm
-1
K
-1
]
L collector length [m]
mass flow rate of air [kgs
-1
]
n number of slats
P solar cell packing factor
P
E
electrical energy [W]
S solar insolation [W m
-2
]
T Temperature [K]
U
b
bottom heat loss coefficient [W K
-1
m
-2
]
V
L
voltage [volt]
W width of the collector [m]
X distances alongues the collector in flow direction [m]
Z vertical distance along the slatdepth [m]

Greek letters
absorptivity
emissivity

el
electrical efficiency

th
thermal efficiency
(
th
)
o
overall thermal efficiency of the system
Stefan Boltzman constant (5.67 x 10
-8
[Wm
-2
K
-4
])
transmissivity

Subscripts
a ambient
av average
bp bottom plate
c convective
f
1
working fluid in the upper channel
f
2
working fluid at the lower channel
g glass plate
I inlet
o outlet
p absorber plate
r radiative
s sky
sl slat
o
c
Srinivas and J ayaraj / I nternational J ournal of Energy & Technology 4 (34) (2012) 110 10

w wind

Abbreviations
ARC anti reflective coating
CPC compound parabolic concentrator
DPHSAH double pass hybrid solar air heater
EAHE earth air heat exchanger
EPBT energy payback time
EVA ethylene vinyl acetate
IMD Indian Metrological Department
PV/T photovoltaic thermal


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