The use of photovoltaic (PV) systems is one the most practicable means of harnessing the largest and most accessible source of renewable energy today which can pave way for economic diversi-fication. Generally, reduction in the efficiency of the PV modules has always been a stumbling block in exploiting this system to their fullest capacity. The use of hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system, enhances the efficiency of the PV module, while the PV/T collector also have thermal efficiency that can be channelled for domestic heating demands concurrently. In this paper, an experimental test rig was fabricated and set-up in order to carry out the evaluation of a hybrid (PV/T) system. Two different systems were examined experimentally under the same working condition and their performances were analysed accordingly. The experimental results showed that the highest thermal efficiency obtained for the PV/T system was about 60% while, the highest electrical efficiency recorded for the PV system with and without cooling were 9% and 7.5% respectively. While, 66.3% of power was produced from the system with cooling due to the introduction of heat recovery system, but the system without cooling manage to generate less than 35% of electrical power output. Based on the analysis presented, the use of (PV/T) system is a promising technology that will enhance both thermal and electrical efficiency of (PV) modules maximally.
Key words: Photovoltaic thermal system: Module: Retrofitted: Useful energy: Solar radiation
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