Effect of Series and Parallel Combination of Photovoltaic Thermal Collectors on the Performances of Integrated Active Solar Still

Abstract

In this article, an analytical expression for hourly yield, electrical energy and overall exergy of self-sustained solar still integrated with series and parallel combination of photovoltaic thermal-compound parabolic concentrator (PVT-CPC) collectors have been derived. The analysis is based on the basic energy balance equation of the proposed active solar distillation system. Based on numerical computations, it has been observed that the yield is maximum for all self-sustained PVT-CPC collectors are connected in series (case (i)). Furthermore, the daily yield and exergy increase with the increase of water depth unlike passive solar still for all collectors connected in series. However, overall exergy decreases with an increase of water depth for all collectors connected in parallel (case (iv)). For numerical simulations, the total numbers of self-sustained PVT-CPC collectors has been considered as constant. Furthermore, an effect of series and parallel combination of PVT-CPC collectors on daily yield, electrical energy, and overall exergy has also been carried out. Following additional conclusions have also been drawn: (i) The daily yield of the proposed active solar still decreases with the increase of packing factor of semi-transparent photovoltaic (PV) module for a given water depth and electrical energy and overall exergy increase with water depth for case (i) as expected due to low operating temperature range at higher water depth in the basin. (ii) The daily yield, electrical energy, and overall exergy increase with the increase of water depth for all combination of series and parallel arrangement of PVT-CPC collectors for a packing factor of 0.22 as per our expectation.