Review on the structure and application of solar photovoltaic air collector

Figures & data

Figure 1. Improved PV/T solar air collector (Saygin et al. 2017).

Figure 2. Two models of solar photovoltaic air collectors with different photovoltaic cell placement (Wu et al. 2019).

Table 1. Comparison table of the effects of different photovoltaic cell positions on efficiency.

The first author	Form	Rate of flow	Efficiency	Conclusion
Saygin et al. (2017)	The distance between photovoltaic cell and glass cover plate is 3 cm	0.037 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 48%, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is 6.2%	The thermal performance is best, and the fan consumes less power
	The distance between photovoltaic cell and glass cover plate is 5 cm	0.037 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 34%, and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is 7.7%	The photoelectric conversion efficiency is the highest and the photothermal conversion efficiency is the lowest
	The distance between photovoltaic cell and glass cover plate is 7 cm	0.037 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 39% and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is 5.4%	The effect is poor and the photoelectric conversion efficiency is the lowest
Wu et al. (2019)	The photovoltaic cell is placed on the surface of the thermal insulation backplane	0.03 kg/s	Photothermal conversion efficiency 52%, photoelectric conversion efficiency 13.5%	High photothermal conversion efficiency and comprehensive utilization rate of solar energy
	The photovoltaic cell is placed on the back of the glass cover plate	0.03 kg/s	Photothermal conversion efficiency 24%, photoelectric conversion efficiency 14.8%	High photoelectric conversion efficiency
Hegazy et al. (2020)	The photovoltaic cell is placed on a heat-absorbing plate	0.02 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 53% and the total efficiency is 71%	High photothermal conversion efficiency, suitable for small space scenes
	The photovoltaic cell is placed on the glass cover plate	0.02 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 27% and the total efficiency is 44.8%	The heat sink has the lowest temperature
	The photovoltaic cell is separated from the collector	0.02 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 64% and the total efficiency is 81.8%	The heat absorption plate has the highest temperature, high heat loss at the top and takes up large space

Figure 3. Solar photovoltaic air collector with glass cover plate (Shahsavar, Ameri, and Gholampour 2012).

Figure 4. Four kinds of solar photovoltaic air collectors (Ooshaksaraei et al. 2017).

Figure 5. Solar photovoltaic air collectors with different flow channel forms (Slimani et al. 2017).

Table 2. Comparison of the effects of different flow channel forms on efficiency.

The first author	Form	Rate of flow	Efficiency	Conclusion
Ooshaksaraei et al. (2017)	Single port	0.03–0.14 kg/s	The total efficiency of 28%-49%	Exergic efficiency and photoelectric conversion efficiency are the highest
	Two channels flow in the same direction	0.03–0.14 kg/s	The total efficiency of 51%-67%	Highest overall efficiency
	Double channel reverse flow	0.03–0.14 kg/s	The total efficiency of 47%-62%	Uneven temperature distribution, slightly lower efficiency
	Single channel reflux	0.03–0.14 kg/s	The total efficiency of 42%-56%	Low heat loss at the top
Slimani et al. (2017)	Do not set port	0 kg/s	The average daily photoelectricity, photothermal and total efficiency are 10.66%, 0% and 29.63%	Low solar energy utilization
	Single port	0.023 kg/s	The average daily photoelectric, photothermal and total efficiency were 10.73%, 21.19% and 51.02%	Photoelectric conversion efficiency is the highest
	Single flow channel with air clearance	0.023 kg/s	The average daily photoelectricity, photothermal and total efficiency were 10.33%, 40.77% and 69.47%,	Air clearance is added to reduce the heat loss at the top and improve the photothermal conversion efficiency
	Single channel reflux	0.023 kg/s	The average daily photoelectricity, photothermal and total efficiency are 10.65%, 44.41% and 74%	The photothermal conversion efficiency is the highest

Figure 6. Set up the device model for the porous media (Ahmed and Mohammed 2017).

Figure 7. Solar photovoltaic air collector with parallel runner (Bambrook and Sproul 2012).

Figure 8. Schematic diagram of solar photovoltaic air collector with unequal section fins (Choi and Choi 2020).

Figure 9. Solar photovoltaic air collectors with triangular baffles (Yu, Kim, and Kim 2020).

Table 3. Comparison of the effects of different fin forms on efficiency.

The first author	Form	Rate of flow	Efficiency	Conclusion
Bambrook and Sproul (2012)	Set the fin to divide the parallel runner	0.055 kg/s	Photovoltaic cell operating temperature can be maintained at 38°C, photoelectric conversion efficiency of 12.5%	Air flow is evenly distributed to improve photoelectric conversion efficiency
Mojumder et al. (2016)	Set the rectangular fins	0.02–0.14 kg/s	Photoelectric/photothermal conversion efficiencies are 13.75% and 56.19%	The air outlet temperature increases, and the photoelectric/photothermal conversion efficiency increases
Touafek et al. (2018)	Set the rectangular fins	0.01–0.04 kg/s	Photovoltaic cells generate 7–30% more current than photovoltaic systems alone	The photoelectric performance of the device is obviously improved
Franklin 和 Chandrasekar (2019)	Add vertical fins	0.232 kg/s	Air outlet temperature increased by 3.3°C	Effectively reduce the temperature of photovoltaic cells, improve the air outlet temperature
Jha, Das, and Gupta (2019)	The flow channel is set to wavy	0.0047–0.0128 kg/s	The photothermal conversion efficiency is 3–5.5% higher than the flat type, and the exergic efficiency is 1–1.2% higher	Power consumption increases, photothermal conversion efficiency and exergic efficiency improve
Choi and Choi (2020)	Set unequal section ribs	0.01977–0.07698 kg/s	Photothermal conversion efficiency 56.72%, photoelectric conversion efficiency 14.81%	With the increase of air mass flow, the photothermal conversion efficiency is significantly improved. Set fins, solar energy utilization rate
Yu, Kim, and Kim (2020)	Staggered arrangement of triangular baffle	67 m^3/h	Photothermal conversion efficiency increased by 31%	When the air outlet temperature increases, the thermal performance increases by 1.3 times

Figure 10. Solar hot air drying system (Tiwari, Agrawal, and Tiwari 2018).

Figure 11. Building integrated photovoltaic/thermal system (Shahsavar and Rajabi 2018).

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