Performances Comparison of PV/T Solar Plants with Roll-Bond and Sheet-and-Tube Absorbers

Photovoltaic/thermal unit (PV/T) is an innovative technology that allows the renewable energy production by cogenerating electricity and heat simultaneously. This technology is seemed promising for the energy supply in many applications, especially for building envelope. In the present work, the performances of two different PV/T solar plants with a Roll-bond and PV/T sheet-and-tube absorbers are compared under the operating conditions of Catane, Italy. The performance assessment of theses PV/T solar plant is ensured by the dynamic modeling of two PV/T in MATLAB software. Moreover, the PV/T energy yields for suppling the energy need of a simple building are evaluated. From results, the comparison of the two PV/T systems proves that the “Roll-bond” configuration provides a higher thermal performance with a maximum fluid outlet temperature of 42.13 °C with respect to the standard one of 40 °C “Sheet-and-tube” configuration). In terms of the PV/T energy yields used for the energy supply of a standard building, it’s observed that PV/T” Roll-bond” system is very promising. It can fully cover the energy needs of the building with a total coverage factor of 76.79%.