Influence of vortex generator on performance of concentrated solar photovoltaic module in existence of heat sink

Abstract

New configuration of concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) with the implementation of parabolic concentrator and heat sink combined with the vortex generator (VG) were presented in current work. The testing fluid is water and temperature-dependent features were utilized. The regime of water flow in absence and presence of VG are laminar and turbulent, respectively. Numerical simulations were done for different values of angle of VG (θ = 30°, and 60°), pitch ratio (S = 0.025, 0.0375, and 0.05), and volumetric flow rate (Q = 0.5, to 2 Lit/min). Four values for width of reflector have been applied and radiation model was utilized to derive the absorbed heat flux. The accuracy of modeling has been examined for three cases and good accommodations have been reported. The maximum values of thermal (ηth) and electrical (ηel) performance are 63.75 % and 13.96 % which happens when θ = 30°, S = 0.025, Q = 2 Lit/min. Installing VG leads to increments of ηth and ηel about 1.42 % and 2.74 %. Increase of S and θ cause performance to decrease while this function increases with rise of Q. Increase of Q causes ηth and ηel to increase about 1.17 % and 2.55 % for the best case.