Volume 4: Innovative Solutions for Energy Transitions: Part III

Impact Study Of Height Difference On Solar Thermal Performance Of A Novel Solar Micro-Channel Loop Heat Pipe-PV/T Heating System Min Yu, Jinzhi Zhou, Xudong Zhao, Yi Fan

Abstract

This paper aims to study the solar thermal performance of a novel solar micro-channel loop heat pipe-PV/T system on experimental stage based on the height difference between the PV/evaporator and condenser, including the impact of the height difference on the temperature distribution of PV panel, solar thermal efficiency. It is found that (1) when the system become steady, the PV module surface temperature is almost decreases with the rise of the height difference; (2) The aluminium (Al) plate in the mid-layer achieved a little higher temperature compared to the PV surface and micro-channel wall which were above and below the Al plate respectively; (3) the solar thermal efficiency of the novel PV/T-MCLHP system varied with the height difference between the heat exchanger and the evaporator; (4)During the specific operational process, solar thermal efficiency of the system increased from 48.85% to 57.13% while the height difference increased from 0.7 m to 1.3m. And 1.1m is finally taken as the optimal value of height difference. The results of this experiment can help to optimize the system construction and thus help to develop a high thermal performance and low cost solar PV/T system for the space heating.

Keywords micro-channel, loop heat pipe, PV/T, height difference, efficiency