Performance of a hybrid photovoltaic thermal solar collector

Closed form solutions have been obtained for both a single-pass and a double-pass collectors and, for a passively cooled photovoltaic panel. The mean plate temperature, photovoltaic cell, thermal, and combined efficiencies have been obtained. The results show that the double-pass photovoltaic thermal collector has a more productive cooling effect compared to the single-pass photovoltaic thermal collector, and thus has better photovoltaic cells performance. The effect of the mass flow rate, duct depth, and packing factor on the photovoltaic cell performance are also discussed.