Renewable Energy, Vol.127, 284-297, 2018
Experimental investigation of the effects of corona wind on the performance of an air-cooled PV/T
In the present study, enhancing the heat transfer is experimentally investigated by the electro-hydrodynamics (EHD) through a single-pass air-cooled PV/T (Photovoltaic/Thermal System). The corona wind increases the heat transfer coefficient by producing a secondary flow and vortex, and consequently, increases the PV/T system efficiency. The effects of the corona wind are studied by changing the voltage values and the flow rates in the air channel. The results show that the corona wind is effective on enhancing the system performance; so that the heat transfer coefficient increases by 65% in natural flow regime by applying 11 kV voltage in the pilot setup. Totally, the thermal efficiency of the PV/T system increases up to 28.9%. Also, the effects of corona wind are studied by changing the amount of the applied high voltages and flow rates. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.