Thermoelectric Performance of Micro-heat Tube Array Solar PV/T System Based on Parallel Flow Tube with Tiny Porous Channels

This paper presents a solar photovoltaic–thermal cogeneration component based on parallel flow tube with tiny porous channels and micro-heat tube array (MHPA-PV/T). The core heat transfer component effectively combines micro-heat tube array and parallel flow tube with tiny porous channels and applies to solar photovoltaic/thermal system. The heat collection efficiency and power generation efficiency of the two systems under instantaneous and all-day operation conditions are studied and analyzed, respectively. The results show that the instantaneous heat collecting efficiency of the tiny channel flow tube with the MHPA-PV/T components’ maximum value is 36.8% and increases by 14.6% and the photovoltaic increases by 5.5%. The daily average photovoltaic conversion efficiency improves by 9.8% in the all-day efficiency test system, and the daily average photo-thermal conversion efficiency enhances up to 11.1%, compared to the component of airfoil tube in the testing system. The MHPA-PV/T components based on parallel flow tube with tiny porous channels provide a theoretical basis for the practical application and popularization of the solar cogeneration technology in the future.