Infrared thermography energy performance analysis of a hybrid air photovoltaic-thermal system

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we carried out a thermographic assessment of the hybrid PV/T system at four distinct times in the same day to analyze the behavior of the system and show the factors that can degrade the thermal and electrical performance of this cogeneration device. We utilized the 3D simulation of MATLAB software for temperature readings at each image. Too, the analysis of the heat distribution on the surface of the panel when the PV/T system was first dirty and then after cleaning. Additionally, over a number of days, the thermal and electrical yields of a PV/T system were assessed to ascertain the impact of environmental conditions on the system’s overall output. The impact of uneven temperature distribution on thermal and electrical performance was demonstrated by this experiment. It is worth noting that the system’s electrical efficiency rises with cooling, rising from 13.2% under natural conditions to 14.1% with cooling. When cooling is applied, thermal efficiency can reach 50%. Electrical power increases from 199.64 W in natural cooling to 215 W with forced cooling, an increase of around 7.5%.

KEYWORDS:

• Efficiency
• energy performance
• IR thermography
• photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T)
• simulation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kamel Sahlaoui

Kamel Sahlaoui PhD student at the University of Tunis El Manar. He obtained a master's degree in Physics from the University of Monastir in 2012. His areas of research are related to renewable energy technologies, in particular hybrid solar panels.

Hatem Oueslati

Hatem Oueslati obtained his doctorate and University Habilitation in Electrical Engineering respectively in 2013 and 2022 from the National Engineering School of Tunis (ENIT), University of Tunis el Manar. He is currently an Associate Professor at Research and Technology Center of Energy in Borj Cedria-Tunisia. His main areas of research and activities are based on the modeling and control of thermal processes systems and the feasibility analysis of energy systems based on renewable sources.

Hamza Nasri

Hamza Nasri PhD student at the Laboratory of Energy Efficiency and Application of Renewable Energies (LAPER) at the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis (University of Tunis El Manar). His main areas of research are the modeling and optimization of photovoltaic solar thermal systems.

Salah Ben Mabrouk

Salah Ben Mabrouk received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Thermal Buildings (1984) from the University of Poitiers (France) and Doctorate Degrees Thesis in Sciences Physics (These d’Etat Es- Sciences Physics) at the Faculty of Sciences of Tunis (1999), University of Tunis el Manar. He is currently a Professor in Physics and Mechanical Engineering at the Research and Technologies Center of Energy in Borj Cedria-Tunisia and head of national and international projects concerning the solar drying processes and renewable energy applications.