PV - Distillate Water

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A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of Distillate Water

from the Cooling of the PV Module
Article in IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering · March 2021
DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/1094/1/012049
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A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of Distillate

Water from the Cooling of the PV Module
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INTCSET 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1094 (2021) 012049 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1094/1/012049
A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of

Distillate Water from the Cooling of the PV Module
Angham Fadil Abed1 Dhafeer Manee Hachim2 and Saleh E Najim3

1
Engineering College, Mechanical Department, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq
2
Engineering Technical College, Najaf, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University,
Najaf, Iraq
3
Engineering College, Mechanical Department, University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq
E-mail: [email protected]‫‏‬
Abstract. A large portion of incident solar radiation on photovoltaic ( PV) panels is

transformed into heat; thus, reducing photovoltaic panel power. The photovoltaic module's
efficiency depends primarily on the ambient temperature, the temperature of the module, the
incoming intensity of the solar radiation, and the composition of the PV material. Depending
on the type of solar cells used, PV panel efficiency typically drops by 0.5 for each degree rise
in temperature. The cooling technique is also beneficial to maintain the cell at the operating
temperature and should be such that, with a uniform distribution, it holds the average cell
temperature to its minimum values. The supply of drinking water is increasingly declining with
increasing population, growth, and environmental pollution. Therefore, it is appropriate to
concentrate on available distilling water. Due to its low cost, energy, and ability requirements,
solar still is one of the promising technologies available for water purification. The current
work attempts numerically to suggest and analyze the production of distilled water, electric
power, and heating water for domestic by utilizing a simple passive cooling technique for a
new hybrid PV/T. The present work benefits from the unwilled heat of PV panel to obtain
freshwater without the construction of solar still by putting a glass cover on the original frame
of PV. The system's performance is investigated from various aspects such as distilled water
yield, production of electrical and thermal power instantaneously, and daily by considering
three types of mass flow rate in inner wick and four types in the outer wick. Results show that
the mass flow rate of inner wick does not significantly affect the temperature of PV and
distilled water yield, but the mass flow rate in outer wick has affected distilling water. The
production of water was maximum for the CPVWD module and is increased by about 65.73%
more than that for the PVWD. The CPVWD module is found to display the highest electrical
efficiency while the PVWD shows the lowest value. Good agreement between the present
results and previous works was found.
Keywords. Hybrid PV/T, System sustainable, Distillate water, PV module.
1. Introduction
Demanding for current energy is fossil fuels and nonrenewable sources, and it is expanding at a fast
rate besides being greenhouse gas emitters. Solutions to meet the current energy challenges are based
on using sources of renewable energy. Solar energy is a clean and inexhaustible renewable energy
resource with zero waste generation and no carbon dioxide emissions. Researches have been done
over the years to be benefiting from enormous solar resources. Photovoltaic panels (PV) are among the
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution
of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd 1
most important techniques, but its efficiency remains low as much of the solar energy is transformed
into thermal energy [1]. Photovoltaic cells (PV) are renewable energy devices that transform incident
sunlight into electrical energy DC. During this energy conversion process, these cells only transform a
portion of the incoming solar radiation into useful output energy while the rest is lost as heat wasting.
Hence, this wasted heat increases the cell temperature. As the photovoltaic cell temperature increases,
the open-circuit voltage and fill factor decrease, leading to a decrease in the conversion efficiency of
the PV system [2]. The smallest unit is termed as a solar cell, and they are arranged in parallel and
series to build a PV module. PV arrays consist of PV modules that are connected in series and
parallel. Indeed, PV power plants shares have increased worldwide, and many countries are now
planning to increase the proportion of alternative energies in electricity generation. It is found that the
performance of PV decreases as the temperature of the PV module increase. For every 1 °C rise in
solar cell temperature, the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells decreases by 0.5%, and this
efficiency reduction change with the cell type [3,4].
Consequently, a cooling system is needed to remove this heat by using cooling fluids, such as air and
water, in forced or natural convection withdraws the heat from the PV panel and using it in different
implementations and to obtain stability in the production of electrical energy at the same time. In this
case, the PV panel is called a hybrid PV/T [4]. Photovoltaic–thermal (PV/T) represents an integration
of PV technology and solar thermal technology, which simultaneously transform the incident radiation
into electricity and heat and gains popularity. The PV/T module employ in many applications. It can
be utilized in the industrial field, domestic using and preheating water or air. Building facades and
roofs can be integrated with PVT/air systems, and with the addition of the electrical load, they can
provide air ventilation for the building.
On the other hand, PVT/water systems employ a water heat exchanger placed in the photovoltaic
backside. It is in thermal contact with it, suitable for space and water heating, etc. [5]. Thermal,
electrical, and energy efficiencies are the measure of the performance of the hybrid PV/T system.
Since the material used for the manufacturing of PV cells is sensitive to change in temperature,
therefore, the electrical efficiency of the system mainly depends upon the cell temperature, Whereas
thermal efficiency usually comprises the ratio of a beneficial heat gain [6][7].
The demand for freshwater has increased due to population explosions and rapid industrial
development worldwide, while the supply of pure water declines day by day. To solve this problem, a
sustainable source for water distillation is a solution. Economic factors, however, maybe the
conventional distillation of brackish or brackish waters, which can be found respectively in deserts and
seashore. Therefore, solar energy is a possible distillation alternative by using the stills in such
locations, despite being a much less efficient energy source than fossil fuels or electric power [8].
Solar stills are one of the systems for direct solar desalination in which solar radiation is directly
applied to generate desalinated water. Solar still is simple to produce and requires no professional
labor and maintenance; therefore, it is considered an active source for freshwater production for both
domestic and agricultural domestic fields. The solar radiation mechanism still is when the solar
radiation is falling on the glass cover of still. Brackish, or wastewater also starts to evaporate in the
black painted basin. The water that has evaporated rises to the glass cover's cooler inner surface and is
condensate as freshwater. The evaporated water condenses and runs down over the bottom cover glass
surface due to the gravity where it can be deposited into freshwater. Solar still has two forms, passive
and passive. There are several ways to heated the water in the basin, but the most preferred approach is
either directly combining the basin with the panel or using a heat exchanger [9,10].
Yari et al. [11] studied a new integration of a solar still equipped with semi-transparent PV and
evacuated tube collectors in a natural mode. Their system applied various basin water depths and
many tubes and six types of PV modules. They concluded that the PV module form does not affect
pure water productivity. Maximum water yield (4.77 kg / m2.day) for tube number 30 and basin depth
of 0.07 m was achieved. Hedayati-Mehdiabadi et al.[12] investigated the efficiency of PV/T connected
to stepped cascade still. The freshwater yield increase was 20 % to hit 5.71 kg/(m2.day) with a daily
energy efficiency of 26 % from the proposed system. The system's maximum energy efficiency can be
obtained at a PV/T collector area of 1.3m2 and 0.03 kg/min of desired brackish water flow. In order to
perform the process of desalination and generate electricity, Manokar et al.[13] studied the efficiency
2
of an integration of a PV panel fixed at the basin of solar still. Their results suggest that the PV-still
freshwater yield is 7.3, 4.4, and 3.7 kg, respectively, with sidewall and bottom insulation, PV plus still
with sidewall insulation, and PV plus still without any insulation. Pounraj et al.[14] studied a hybrid
PV / T active solar system in which a solar PV is operated by Peltier (Thermo Electric Cooler) device
to increase freshwater production during evaporation and condensation processes. The proposed
device has an average thermal efficiency improvement of 30 % compared to CSS. Naroei et al. [15]
investigated the efficiency of combining stepped solar still with photovoltaic thermal water collector
(PVT) numerically and experimentally. The results showed that the desired collector and mass flow
rate of PVT water was 1.33m2 and 0.068 kg/min, respectively. More than two times, the CSS
efficiency and a 20 % improvement in the pure water yield are increased by the proposed method. Al-
Nimr et al. [16] suggested a novel PV/T distillation system with a combined PV/T cell fixed at the
base of basin solar still under the water to be treated. An internal reflector is also used in the basin area
to focus the solar radiation, and the novelty of using PV / T cells submerged underwater and outside
finned condenser, which increases the rate of evaporation due to increase in water temperature. A fan
is added and placed above the water's surface to rapidly lift the water vapor from the basin and force it
into the condensing chamber. A fan was operated by PV / T immersed, and the condensation processes
increased in the daytime. PSS productivity is measured at about 6.8 kg/day at a solar radiation rate of
1000 W/m2 with an efficiency of 56.5 %. However, it has 4.07 kg/day productivity and 28.6%
efficiency in CSS. Kumara et al.[10] experimentally tested a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal ( PV / T)
single slope active solar still and a conventional passive solar still with three different water depths
(0.05 m, 0.10 m, and 0.15 m). In order to achieve higher distillate water output, a nickel-chrome heater
(NiCr) was used and operated by solar photovoltaic ( PV) in the suggested hybrid still. Their findings
show that the system's daily yield is six times greater than the conventional passive yield. It is evident
from the experimental analysis that the overall electrical and thermal performance of the proposed
hybrid active (PV / T) solar was still increased to around 25 % higher than the conventional passive
one. The evaporative cooling concept is well known and has been implemented in many industrial and
industrial applications. However, the cooling of PV panels using evaporative cooling is minimal, and
there is very little research on the use of evaporative cooling for PV panels. Evaporative cooling has a
high potential in dry and hot climates to regulate the temperature of the PV panels built under these
conditions[17]. In evaporative cooling, employing wetted wicks decreases the thermal inertia and
increases heat transfer by evaporation-condensation [18]. Haidar et al.[17] investigate the influence of
the evaporative cooling of solar photovoltaic ( PV ) panels by designing a simple and efficient
experimental setup. The back surface of the PV panel was moistened and open to the ambient. Water
was supplied from a tank by gravity to the back of the PV panel. The PV panel temperature was
reduced to more than 20 oC, and the efficiency of electrical power generation was improved by around
14 % compared to the PV reference panel. The effect of evaporative cooling on the output of PV
panels was theoretically investigated by Haidar et al. [19]. Their model includes ambient air being
blown inside a duct, a water layer flowing inside the same duct, and heat transfer between the air and
PV. The influence of heat and mass transfer was studied, and a decrease in the temperature of the PV
panel to about 6 oC was expected. The thermal and electrical efficiency of a PV panel cooled by an
evaporative chimney was evaluated by Lucas et al. [20] experimentally. The temperature drop reached
8 oC, and the mean electrical efficiency increase was in the range of 4.9-7.9 %, with an average
ambient temperature of less than 30 oC. A passive thermal regulation method was developed by
Chandrasekar et al.[21] with heat spreaders combined with cotton wicks to regulate the temperature of
the PV module during its operation. Two flat PV modules use one thermally controlled flat PV module
and reference PV without cooling, and the PV module's thermal and electrical efficiency was also
compared with the results of the PV module without a cooling system. The PV module temperature
was reduced to approximately 12%, and the electrical output was increased by 14 % using the
established cooling system. Basic equations of energy balance were applied for the PV module to
calculate the coefficient of thermal loss, which was found to increase because of the influence of fins
and evaporative cooling in humid cotton wicks.
The authors best survey, and from the previous literature review, there are many areas where healthy
water and electric power supply is low. Present work is a numerical attempt to investigate producing
3
distilled water, electrical power, and heating water for domestic and straightforward use, by using a
simple passive cooling technique for a hybrid PV/T. The proposed PV/T system was used to benefit
from unwilled heat and employ it to produce distilled water and heat water for different domestic use.
A cooling system was provided on the PV panel's back surface using a cotton wick to cool the panel
and produce pure water. The present paper assumes a coupling is concentrated on integrating the PV
with a simple solar still consist of glass cover placed on the PV back surface original aluminum frame
without using an extra construction for solar still, i.e., the PV can represent a source for electricity,
pure water for drinking, and heating water for domestic using. The benefit of this cooling method is ;
(i) the solar still does not occupy space other than the space used by the PV(PV provide electricity and
transform to a simple solar still by adding a glass cover to the frame of PV), (ii) In the pervious studies
there is a thermal medium between the PV and the still used to pass the energy from the auxiliary part
to the still, combined with the still as solar collectors, PV, resulting in various system efficiencies
leading to a reduction in overall system performance while here we overcome this problem. Hence a
new novel coupling technique of a PV panel in this work which benefits from the heat losses from the
panel to evaporating the water flowing in wetted cotton wick and obtain pure water without using the
power of the PV as used in previously coupling techniques of solar still with PV, i.e., from the same
PV module we obtain pure water and electricity. Also, (iii) the PV is not costly, does not need
maintenance, has a very long operating time, and even if the PV power is low, this integration will
help obtain pure water.
2. System description
2.1. Experimental setup

A sectional view of the hybrid (PV/T) is shown in Figure 1. With the same peak power, two PV
modules are included in the experimental setup. The first test PV module (PVREF) is considered a
reference module, and the other PV test modules are provided with a distillation and cooling system
(PVWD, CPVWD). The experimental rig (PV panel with 30° slope is installed, and latitude angle
32.1) is built at Najaf-Iraq. A piece of the plain wick (inner wick) with 0.01 mm thickness of porous
cotton was directly settled to the PV panel back surface to do the second module (PVWD). A layer of
6 mm thick commercial back glass sheet inclined at nearly 30° to the horizontal covers the panel, and
it is pasted (by using silicon) to the frame of the PV module without exceeding it. Plastic pipes of
15mm diameter are inserted in two bores drilled on the same sidewall of the PV frame. The first fitting
bottom (15mm diameter) pipe is used for the collection of distilled water. The other top (15mm
diameter) pipe is used to supply brackish water. A slot of approximately 0.75 mm was longitudinally
cutting on the surface of this pipe to insert the wick ends and allow arrived water from a controlled
container by valve to the cotton wick. A hole of about 0.5 cm diameter is made in the bottom wall of
the PV frame to discharge the excessive water. Another porous back wick (back wick) is fixed on the
back glass cover outer surface to make the (CPVWD) module. The top ends of this wick are inserted
in a pipe fixed in the top of the cover with a slot of the same size as mentioned previously for PVWD.
The hybrid PV modules are fixed by an iron stand, as explained in Figure (1). A set of thermocouples
is used to measure the module's temperature; some are attached at three different positions on the
panel back surface, two are fixed to the back wick surface, and another is assigned for the back glass
cover inner surface and humid air. While a separate thermocouple is used to measure the ambient
temperature. The thermocouple sensors (type-T) were linked to the thermocouple data logger and
calibrated with an accuracy of ±1 Co. The data logger is programmed and connected to the computer
to record the temperatures with a 5 min. A solar power meter (Type SR 11) with an accuracy of ±5
W/m2 is used to measure the total solar radiation on an inclined surface close to the test module. The
graduated 500 ml capacity vessel is used to measure and collect the condensate water on a manual
record (one hour).
3. Uncertainty analysis
The error occurs in the measurement devices during each experiment, and it can be considered a
difference between the measured value and the actual value. In general, errors in every experiment are
4
calibration, human errors, experiment conditions, uncontrolled variables, ambient conditions,

measurement tools, etc. So, uncertainty is classified into two types: systematic and random errors. By
reviewing of manufacture datasheet or data of measurement devices calibration, systematic errors
could be calculated. The random errors could be calculated by utilizing statistical processes. Random
error sources are undistinguished and may happen due to many factors like human mistakes or
ambient conditions, and it is always uncountable. Systematic errors are not varied, but random errors
are varied for the experiment of unchangeable conditions. In this study, the uncertainty of the second
type is considered since it is supposed that all the measurement devices are uniformly distributed. The
equation of standard uncertainty can be expressed as [9]:
(1)
√
Where u expressed as the value of standard uncertainty and a is the accuracy of the measuring devices.
The uncertainty values connected by tests are recorded in Table (1).
Table 1. Standard uncertainty, accuracy, and ranges of instruments.

Instruments standard
Instruments Range Ranges Accuracy uncertainty Parameter Measured
Thermocouple 0–100 °C 1°C 0.6°C Temperature of Panel
Solar power meter
0-1999 W/m2 5 W/m2 2.8 W/m2 Global Radiation
TES1333R
Figure 1. Set up of experiment.
5
3.1. CFD modeling

In this research, simulation and modeling for the hybrid (PV/T) with an uncooled system and a cooling
system with desalination were studied. The hybrid system consists essentially of the following
components:
1. Photovoltaic uncooled panel (PVREF) consisting of the following elements (Figure 2a):
 Photovoltaic cells are submerged in an EVA (ethylene-vinyl-acetate) polymer layer.

 A layer of glass for protection of the PV cells (front glass-cover).
 A layer of Tedlar for protective underneath PV cells.
2. A photovoltaic panel with desalination (PVWD) which consist of the following components
(Figure 2b):
 photovoltaic panel with the same layers as in (PVREF).

 A piece of the porous cotton wick (inner wetted wick) was directly connected to the PV
panel's back surface, and water was allowed to flow and wet this wick to obtain pure
water.
 Aback glass cover (as a condensation surface) below the PV panel with enclosed air
space. This cover putting in the original frame of PV without extra construction for an air
closed cavity.
3. A cooling photovoltaic panel with desalination (CPVWD), which consists of the same
components as PVWD with extra back wetted wick (outer wetted wick) of the same type as
used in PVWD attached to the back surface of the back glass cover (Figure 2c).
The design parameters and thermophysical properties that are used in the simulation are given in Table
2. In order to ensure that the solar rays are normal to the surface at most times of day, the system is
inclined at an angle of 30o. Through a distribution pipe(top pipe), the feed water goes and then
absorbed by the inner wick layer (capillary action) on the back surface of the PV panel, creating a
water layer all over the wick. Solar energy warms the panel and inner wick layer. Some of the water
on the wick evaporates and condenses when it touches the cool back glass cover, and some of the
water is subtracted out of the module. The condensate flows into a condensate pipe (bottom pipe) and
is extracted from the cavity side. The remainder of the feed water, which is hot water, flows into
another collection opening that produces the remaining water opening in the center of the lower PV
frame, and the hot water is removed from this opening. This technique was used to obtain pure water.
To reduce the temperature of PV, which was raised during the distillation process, the study presents a
solution to enhance the cooling of a PV by allowing the back or outer wick to be wetted by water from
the same tank, as shown in Figure 2c.
6
PV layers
PV frame
Conduction
a-PVREF
Conduction
Inner wetted wick
B-PVWD
Conduction
Outer wetted wick
c-CPVWD
Back glass cover
Figure 2. Cross-sectional view and types of heat transfer modes of a) photovoltaic module
(PVREF), b) photovoltaic module with desalination (PVWD) and c) cooling photovoltaic
module with desalination (CPVWD).
7
Table 2. The materials, items, symbols, and values of the hybrid modules
used in the modeling and simulation.
part Materials Items Symbols Values (m)
Thickness 0.0032
PV glass cover Glass Length 0.539
width 0.66
Thickness 0.00018
PV solar cells Silicon Length 0.539
width 0.66
Thickness 0.00018
PV back sheet Tedler Length 0.539
width 0.66
Thickness 2.1E-4
Wick Cotton Length 0.539
Width 0.66
Thickness 0.006
Backglass cover Commercial glass Length 0.539
Width 0.66
4. Mathematical modeling
Figure 2 Displays the thermal processes on the hybrid system. Using time-dependent energy balance
and mass balance equations, the system is modeled, and the equations are simulated using Comsol 5.3.
The energy balance equation can be expressed with the following assumption:
1- The flow in the proposed modules is 2-D, unsteady, and laminar.
2- There is no water vapor leakage between the back glass cover and PV original frame.
3- Coefficients of heat transfer temperature-dependent have been taken.
4- The nodal approach (the temperature of each solar panel layer is assumed to be spatially
constant) is considered.
5- Thermal losses have been ignored on the lateral sides.
6- Water vapor on the wick surface is saturated.
7- Evaporation flux is equal to Condensation flux.
8- Variable properties (change with temperature).
9- Radiation to the ground is negligible.
The equation of the heat balance for each PV / T component can be express as:
4.1. For PVREF

 Glass layer:
(2)
 Solar cells
(3)
Where[22]:
[ ] (4)
 Tedler layer
(5)
8
4.2. For PVWD:

The distillation system is placed on the rear side of the PV panel in the present work, except for the
tedler layer; for this module, all equation balances applied to PVREF were applied here.
 Tedler layer
6)
 Inner porous wick layer
(7)
Where
⁄ ∫ (8)
Where[13]
(9)
 Moist air
(10)
(11)
 Backglass cover
(12)
4.3. CPVWD
The above energy balance equations that were applied for PVWD are applied for this module
except for equations for back glass cover and back or outer wetted wick and can be written as:
 Backglass cover
(13)
 Back or outer porous wick layer
) (14)
4.4. Thermal and electrical efficiency

the electric efficiency for the modules can be written as follows:[22]
(15)
Where is calculated from Eq.10. For the PVREF module, it does not generate any useful thermal
power. The thermal efficiency for PVWD and CPVWD
is calculated as:[23]
(16)
4.5. Heat transfer coefficients used in Energy balance equations

1) Radiative heat transfer coefficient
The coefficient of radiative heat transfer between the front glass cover of the PV module and the sky
may be given by the following equation[22]:
(17)
9
Where
(18)
The internal radiation heat transfer coefficient for PV/T can be determined from the equation of
radiation between two parallel flat plates as follow [22]
(19)
2) Convective heat transfer coefficient

The external convective heat coefficient produce from the wind effect and can be described for all
modules by the following relation:[22]
(20)
3) Conductive heat transfer coefficient
The conductive heat transfer is effected via the adjacent panel components. In this case, the heat
transfer coefficient is expressed by the following relation between two adjacent components i and j
[22]:
⁄( ) (21)
4.6. Governing Equations

Flow and energy equations are modeled on continuity, momentum, energy, and mass transfer
conservation principles. The heat transfer process begins when solar energy is incident on the PV. In
the proposed PV / T, flow is deemed incompressible, unsteady, 2D, and laminar, and the following
equations are applied.
1- Conservation of Mass Equation
The continuity equation represents the conservation of mass for the air mixture, and it can be
expressed as
(22)
2- Conservation of Momentum Equations
The momentum equation for the mixture represents the Navier-Stokes equations and can be
given as
( ) (23)
Where u is the velocity of the fluid, p is the pressure of the fluid, ρ is the density of the fluid, and
μ is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid. The various terms refer to the inertial forces applied to the
fluid (first term), friction forces (second), viscous forces (third), and external forces (forth)).
3- Conservation of Energy Equation
(24)
Where
(25)
and represent heat source
4.7. Equations of Concentration

In pore space, the transport of diluted species is regulated by diffusion and convection, as defined in
the following equation:
10
(26)
C is the species (mol/m3) concentration, D indicates the coefficient of diffusion (m2/s), R is the
species' expression of reaction rate (mol/(m3 ·s)), u is the velocity vector (m/s). The first expression on
the left side of Equation (26) refers to the species' accumulation. The second expression on the right
side of Equation (26); represents a term in the sink or source, usually because of a chemical reaction.
4.8. Boundary conditions

To simulate the continuity, momentum, energy, and concentration equations, appropriate boundary
conditions were defined at all boundaries. Boundary conditions of moist air for PVWD can be written
as following[24,25];
i) Inner porous wick Surface: At the inlet = , at outlet , along the surface
of the wick and c=Cw=Psat/(R.Tw)
ii) Inner surface of back glass cover: u=0, v=0, T=Tbg, c=Cbg|T=Tc, Φ=100%
Where, Cbg=Psat/(R.Tbg).
iii) Back porous wick surface: At the inlet = , at outlet , along the surface of the
back wick and c=Cbw=Psat/(R.Tbw).
iv) Sidewalls: no-slip, thermal insulation, no flux.
v) Convection heat transfer between the front glass cover and the ambient and can be described
by Eq.20
vi) Radiation on the top glass cover, which can be written as in Equations 17 and18 and radiation
between the back surface of the wick and inner surface of the back glass cover, which can be
found in Equation 19.
5. Use of Comsol multiphysics

Comsol multiphysics is a versatile interacting environment used to model and solve all sorts of
problems concerning science and engineering. With this program, traditional models for one form of
physics can be easily extended into multiphysics models that solve coupled physics phenomena [26].
The previously mentioned model equations (system of partial differential equations) describing
coupled fluid flow, heat, and mass transfer in proposed modules were solved using the finite element
software, COMSOL Multiphyics®version5. The coupled partial differential equations for continuity,
momentum, energy, and concentration and the boundary condition are molded and solved
simultaneously in an iterative procedure using the heat transfer module(laminar flow with transient
heat transfer and transient mass transfer). Based on the environmental data, the solar irradiance and the
temperature of ambient varied throughout the day. In order to simulate more realistic boundary
conditions instead of constant boundary conditions that are often used to simplify numerical
simulation, the input boundary condition varied with time. The values are also written as an equation
for the external convection heat transfer coefficient that varies with the wind velocity at each time
step. Also, the efficiency of the PV panels is influenced by the temperature, so the conversion
efficiency of the PV panels is also dynamically varied at each step time using the temperature
information from the running steps.
6. Code validation
Firstly, a mesh convergence test is performed to investigate the mesh size results' independence for the
hybrid systems. The finite element meshing of the computational domain of proposed hybrid modules
(PVREF, PVWD, CPVWD) is accomplished, and one of these modules (PVWD) is displayed in
Figure 3. Different types of non-uniform grid systems are checked with elements: 37,117; 45,283;
51,155; 63,409; 73,203; 85,670and 107,097 for PVWD. The grid size was calculated by increasing the
meshing number until the criterion [p-(p+1)]/p < was obtained. Here ‘p’ stated the calculated
temperature using the current mesh size, and ‘p+1’ resembles temperature at the next mesh size.
Parameters of supervision are chosen as cell temperature, and productivity inside the closed space was
checked for the grid independence test. It was found that there was no substantial change between
73,203 and 85,670 meshing in cell temperature value and productivity, but time intolerable. Thus, the
11
PVWD with 73,203 domain elements is considered for numerical analysis for saving time as no
difference in result by increasing the number of elements over the taken value. For productivity, the
grid test result is shown in Figure 4. Secondly, to validate the model and numerical simulation
methods used in this study for PVREF, a comparison is made with the numerical simulation results
deduced by Silimin [22]. The solar system is a conventional air collector hybrid PV/T based on the
usage of a tow photovoltaic monocrystalline module type ‘‘Siemens SP75”. At the standard rating
conditions, this PV module reaches 75W as an electrical capacity. The experimental study's climatic
conditions and design parameters of Ref. [27] are used to assess and compare the energy efficiency of
the hybrid module in this numerical simulation model for this validation setup. The simulated cell and
tedler temperature values and their corresponding Silimin[22] values are shown in Fig.5 during the test
day. It is observed from this figure that there is a strong agreement between the results. Another
comparison was made in Fig.6 with the experimental results of the same work for tedler, moist air, and
back glass temperatures. Note that a good agreement between the simulated and experimental results
for the present work, where the maximum error is about 19%.
Element:
73,203
Element:
85,670
Figure 3. Meshing of PVWD domain with various element.
0.007
0.006
0.005
[p-(p+1)]/p
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0
10000 30000 50000 70000 90000 110000 130000
Number of elements
Figure 4. Productivity grid testing with the number of elements.
12
RMSD(Tc)=9.9% Tc present simulation

RMSD(Tt)=10.01% Tc simulation[silimin)
60
Tt present simulation
Tt simulation[Silimini]
50
Temperature (˚C)
40
30
20
10
0
5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
Time (h)
Figure 5. The simulated results of solar cells and tedler temperatures during the test day
for PVREF.
80 Tt sim
RMSD(Tt)=18.69%
RMSD(Tma)=17.79% Tma sim
70 RMSD(Tbg)=15.27% Tbg sim
Tt exp
Tma exp
Average temperature(Co)
60
Tbg exp
50
40
30
20
10
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
Figure 6. Comparison between the experimental and simulated results of tedler, moist air,
and back glass temperatures during the test day for PVWD.
7. Experimental variation of weather conditions

For a sunny day of 9 November 2019, the experimental climatic data of Iraq-Najaf was used in
numerical simulation. The geographical coordinates of the location of the site are latitude 32o.1_N,
longitude 44o.19 E, azimuth _0o_, and altitude 6 m. The following figure (Figure 7) involves the
variation of the measured climate, which comprises the incident solar irradiance and ambient
temperature on the 9th day of this month. The intensity of solar radiation hits high values, greater than
900 W / m2 between 11:00 and 12:00, then decreases gradually till 4:00 pm. The range of the ambient
temperature is between 20 and 34Co.
13
1000
900
800
700
Solar radiation(W/m2)
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
40
35
Ambiant temperature(C̊)
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
8 10 12 Time (h) 14 16 18
Figure 7. Variations of experimental solar irradiance and ambient temperature

during the selected day of 9/11/2019.
8. Results and discussion

This work's main objective is to benefit from unwanted heat-producing from panels to obtain
freshwater production, cooling of PV panel, and obtaining hot water for different domestic using.
Freshwater production attaches with the rate of evaporation of brackish water in the wetted inner wick
and the rate of condensation of the evaporated vapor of water. With an increase in brackish water
temperature and the temperature difference between brackish water and moist air, the rate of
evaporation increases. The condensation rate increases with the temperature differential increases
between the moist air and the back glass, the differential between the glass and ambient air, and the
outside air velocity [9]. The numerical results were carried out from 9:00 hours until 16:00 hours.
Therefore, it is essential to investigate and evaluate the temperatures of the modules to understand
their behavior well.
8.1. Temperature distribution

The thermal performance of the proposed hybrid (PV/T) at unsteady conditions was investigated. The
evolution of the PV panel, wicks, humid air, and back glass cover, and ambient temperatures with time
for all hybrid modules is shown in Figure (8). It can be seen that the temperatures of the PV panel (Tc
layer) are the highest in the modules (except for PVREF) and much higher in the PVWD. The PV
solar cells are the hottest components for PVWD and CPVWD modules; their maximum value reaches
67 C and 59 C for the PV with desalination(PVWD) and the cooling PV desalination (CPVWD)
respectively and 66 C for PVREF. The Addition of a back or outer wick above the outer surface of the
back glass cover in the CPVWD module causes a quick decrease in the temperature of all components
of CPVWD due to the evaporative cooling effect between the outer wetted wick and the ambient. The
maximum temperature difference of the solar cell layer between PVREF and CPVWD modules is 7.6
C between 10:30 am, and 11:00 am which represents a 12.8% reduction in temperature. For PVWD,
the maximum temperature difference between the inner wick and moist air is about 3.9 Co, while for
14
CPVWD, it is about 10.16 Co, and this corresponding to a reduction in temperature by about 5.9%
and17.4%, respectively; thus, it leads to the improved evaporation rate of the inner wetted wick. Also,
it can be observed from Figure 8 the high difference in temperature between moist air and back glass
cover for CPVWD as compared with PVWD, and this causes augment in condensation rate. All the
component temperatures of the proposed modules are higher than the temperature of the ambient.
Figure 9 indicates streamlines and isotherms of PVWD and CPVWD modules at 11:45 am at the inner
and outer mass flow rate of 0.000416kg/s and 0.00133 kg/s. The streamline figures indicate that there
is one recirculating region in tow modules, rotate in a clockwise direction. It can be noted that humid
air concentrate near the back glass cover and back surface of the inner wick and moves from the inner
wick towards the back glass cover. The results indicate that there are gradual changes in temperature
contours near the wick surface and the back glass cover due to condensation and evaporation
phenomena. It can also be seen as the effect of outer wick in decreasing the back glass cover
temperature.
80
70
PVREF Tg
Tc
60 Tt
Temperature(C˚)
50
40
30
20
10
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
T_bg
80 ma
PVWD Tc
70 T_wi
60 T_amb
Temperature(C˚)
50
40
30
20
10
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
70
T_bwi
60
CPVWD T_bg
T_wi
50
Temperature(C˚)
40
30
20
10
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
Figure 8. The hourly evolution for temperature components in PVFER, PVWD, and
CPVWD.
15
Figure 9. Streamlines and isotherms contours at 11:30 for: a) PVWD,b) CPVWD.
8.2. Variation of hourly and daily distillate outputs

The influence of employing PV as a simple solar still is represented by an hourly yield of freshwater.
Figure 10a illustrates a comparison of the yielding hourly of the PVWD and CPVWD for a mass flow
rate in inner and outer wicks are 0.000416kg/s and 0.00133 kg/s, respectively. The findings illustrate
that the distillate output in the CPVWD is higher than that in the PVWD. This is because of the good
evaporating properties of the outer or back wick used to enhance the rate of water evaporation in the
CPVWD. The capillary property and low thermal capacity of wetted wick increase the wick
evaporation rate. Furthermore, observations show that during the morning time, the distilled water was
minimal. This is because the water had not been heated up yet. While the highest distilled water
productivity was provided at approximately 11 am, and then starts to decline. This is due to the high
solar radiation incident and the high surrounding and ambient temperature through this time of day
(Fig. 7). Besides, the temperature of water feed to the wicks has minimal in the morning, requiring
time to heat up. Figure 10b shows the variation of hourly accumulative water productivity for
CPVWD and PVWD versus day hours from 9 am to 4 pm. It is clear from this figure that the
accumulated amount of distilled water from CPVWD is higher than that for PVWD. The daily
productivity of CPVWD at 4 pm was about 1541.54ml/m2, while the corresponding for the PVWD is
nearly 930.13 ml/m2. This means that the productivity of CPVWD is increased by about 65.73% more
than that for the PVWD.
16
140
PVWD
CPVWD a
120
100
Hourly productivity (ml/h)
80
60
40
20
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
600
PVWD
500 b
Hourly accumalitive productivity
400
300
(ml)
200
100
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
Figure 10. Variation of water productivity for PVWD and CPVWD a) hourly variation,
b) accumulative variation.
8.2.1. The daily efficiency of the still. When we consider a PV as a solar still, it is important to
calculate the still efficiency. The efficiency of solar still is an important factor in assessing the
performance of still systems. The daily efficiency, , can be calculated by the summation of the
condensate production every hour , multiplied by the latent heat , hence the result is divided
by the average daily solar radiation I(t) over the whole area A of the system [28].
∑
∑
(27)
Results showed that CPVWD daily efficiency is about 21 %. While the PVWD daily efficiency is
about 12.44%.
8.3. The effect of mass flow rate variation

Figure 11 shows the mass flow rate variation in inner wick with productivity for PVWD and CPVW. It
can be seen that the change in mass flow rate has a low effect on productivity for the two
modules(PVWD α CPVWD). Also, the same behavior can be seen in Figure 12 for solar cell
temperature compared with PVREF. It is observed that the average temperature of the solar cell for
PVREF is higher. CPVWD shows the lowest average temperature that can be assigned to the cooling
17
effect caused by the The evaporative cooling effect is provided on the back glass cover's outer side due
to the evaporation of water from the cotton wick structure. As already stated, the system produces hot
water for domestic use while producing distilled water from the feed water, and this effect can be seen
in Figure13, which shows the variation of mass flow rate in inner wick with time for the temperature
of the outlet water. It can be seen that the varying mass flow rate has little influence on outlet water
temperature because the difference in values of the mass flow rate was taken very simple; therefore,
the variation effect was very simple. Be careful in taken values of inner mass flow rate because
excessive in it will destroy the capillary effect of wick and cause a mixing of distilled and brackish
water. The effect of varying mass flow rates on outer wick with productivity for CPVWD was
depicted in Figure14. It can be seen clearly with increasing the mass flow rate, the amount of yield
will increase because of the good effect of outer wick in increasing the enclosed cavity's condensation
rate. As a result, productivity will be increased. Figure 15 demonstrates the variation of average back
glass temperature for CPVWD with time for variable mass flow rate in the outer wick. The average
module temperature decreases with the increaser in the mass flow rate. As the mass flow increases, the
fluid velocity increases, leading to an increase of convection heat transfer between back wick and
ambient. In this case, the reduction in back glass temperature was 10.9%, which shows the back
cooling method's effectiveness.
Figure
Fig.12 12.
Variation of massVariation ofwick
flow rate in inner mass flowtemperature
with average rate in ofinner
solar cell as
FigureFig.11
11.Variation
Variation ofratemass
of mass flow flow
in inner wick rate in inner
with productivity compared with PVREF
wick with average temperature of solar as
wick productivity.
compared with PVREF.
65
m∙=4.16E-04kg/s
60 m∙=5.83E-04kg/s
average outlet temperature(CO)
m∙=7.5E-04kg/s
55
50
45
40
35
30
25
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
Figure 13. Variation of mass flow rate in inner wick with the average
temperature of outlet water.
18
Figure 14. variation

Fig. 14 Variation of massofflow
mass
rateflow rate
in outer outer
wick withwick with productivity
productivity for CPVED
for CPVED.
45
40
35
Average back glasss temp.(C̊)
30
25
20
m•=0.001kg/s
15 m•=0.00133kg/s
10 m•=0.001666kg/s
5 m•=0.002kg/s
0
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
Time (h)
Figure 15. Variation of average back glass temperature with time for different
mass flow rate in outer wick for CPVWD.
8.4. Performances of energy

The variations of the hourly electric power generated for each module per unit area, which proves
mathematically in Equation (3), are shown in Figure 16. The values reached for the CPVWD, the
PVREF, and the PVWD modules are 115.19W / m2, 112.56W / m2, and 111.5 W/m2. For the first
module (PVREF) and the second module (PVWD), the almost match's electric power hourly steps of
the other modules. The third module (CPVWD) shows the maximum value of electrical efficiency.
The hourly variations in thermal energy for each hybrid PV / T module per unit area are illustrated in
Figure 17. For each proposed module, the maximum thermal power values are 399.32W/m2, 235.46
W/m2 for CPVWD, and PVWD, respectively. In terms of thermal power produced the CPVWD the
most effective system. For each module, Figure 18 indicates the comparative variations in electrical
efficiency for each hour. The daily electrical efficiency averages for CPVWD, PVREF, and PVWD
are 12.99 %, 12.77 %, and 12.72 %, respectively. For each module, Fig.19 shows the comparative
hourly variations of thermal efficiencies. The daily thermal efficiency averages are 43.66 % and 25.83
19
%, respectively, for CPVWD and PVWD. Figure 20 shows the different calculated average daily
efficiencies in this research. In contrast with other modules, CPVWD demonstrates the highest
efficiencies.
Fig.16The simulated values of electrical power for each module during the test day.
Figure 16. The simulated values of electrical power each module during
the test day.
Fig.17 The simulated values of thermal power for each module during the test day.
Figure 17. The simulated values of thermal power for each module during
the test day.
FigureFig.18
18. The
Thehourly variationofofelectrical
hourly variation electrical effciency
efficiency for each
for each module.
module.
20
Figure 19. The hourly variation of thermal efficiency for each module.
Fig.19 The hourly variation of thermal efficiency for each module.
Figure
Fig.20 20. Comparative
Comparative ofofdaily
of daily mean mean
electrical, electrical,
thermal energy thermal energy
efficiencies for three
modules.
efficiencies for three modules.
9. Conclusions
The fundamental purpose of this research is to benefit from the high temperature of the PV panel in
obtaining freshwater by using hybrid modules and reducing the negative effect of high temperature by
using the evaporating cooling technique. A comparative thermal and electrical system performance
analysis between three PV/T modules is presented numerically. The model equations are heat and
mass transfer and were solved using COMSOL Multiphyics®version3.5. The studied PV/T modules
are an uncooled photovoltaic panel (PVREF), a photovoltaic panel with desalination (PVWD), and a
cooling, photovoltaic panel with desalination (CPVWD). The novelty of the developed modules is its
capability to benefit from the high temperature of the PV panel in producing freshwater without solar
still constructing. The analysis of the results between all the modules proposed gave us some findings
on the modules tested' thermal and electrical behaviors. The results show that the daily average
thermal and electrical energy efficiencies are: 12.77% for PVREF, 25.83% and 12.72% for PVWD,
43.66% and 12.99% CPVWD, respectively. The following results can be drawn from the study:
 Adding back or outer wick to the CPVWD increases the water productivity by about 65.73%
over the PVWD. Also, the average daily efficiency for the CPVWD is about 21%. While for
PVWD is approximately 12.44%.
21
 Temperature differences between the inner wick and moist air and between moist air and back
glass cover in CPVWD are higher than PVWD, resulting in higher condensation rates.
 CPVWD shows the lowest average temperature of the solar cell, which can be attributed to the
cooling effect caused by the outer wick.
 For CPVWD, the maximum reduction in the temperature of the solar cell layer was about
12.8%.
 Increasing the mass flow rate in the inner wick has a low effect on productivity for the tow
modules (PVWD α CPVWD), while increasing the mass flow rate in the outer wick will raise
the productivity because of the good effect of the outer wick in increasing the condensation
rate inside the enclosed cavity.
 For values of mass flow rate in inner wick used in this research, little variation in outlet water
temperature was observed.
 The CPVWD module is found to display the highest electrical efficiency.
 The PVWD shows the lowest electrical efficiency.
Nomenclature
PV/T photovoltaic/thermal Solar energy absorbed by component i
RMSD root mean square percent deviation Qcd condensation mass transfer(W)
PVREF uncooled photovoltaic panel Greek symbols
CPVWD Cooling photovoltaic panel with desalination efficiency
PVWD photovoltaic panel with desalination K thermal conductivity (W m_1 K_1)
PSS Passive solar still transmissivity
Symbols absorptivity
A area of PV panel(m2) density (kg m_3)
C concentration(mol/m3) emissivity
Ci specific heat capacity of component i (J kg_1 K_1) Stefan-Boltzmann coefficient(Wm-2K-4)
Cf the conversion factor of thermal power plant temperature coefficient (K_1)
_2 _1
hco conductive heat transfer coefficient (W m K ) packing factor
hr radiative heat transfer coefficient (Wm_2 K_1)
hc convective heat transfer coefficient (W m_2 K_1) Subscripts
he Evaporative mass transfer coefficient (m/s) amb ambient
hcd Condensation mass transfer coefficient (m/s) fg front glass layer of PV
latent heat of vaporization(j/kg) sc solar cell layer of PV
li thickness of component i (m) t tedler layer of PV
I solar irradiance (W m_2) bg back glass cover
Mi mass of component i (kg) w inner wick, wind, water
mass flow rate (kg s_1) bw back or outer wick
useful electric power (W) ma moist air
T temperature of component i (Co) sky sky
P pressure(N/m2) th thermal
t time (s) d daily
Qco conductive heat transfer(W) in inner
QC convective heat transfer(W) ex outer
Qr radiative heat transfer(W) p constant pressure
Qe evaporative mass transfer(W) x, y Axes
10. References
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Change Materials for Enhancing Efficiency of Photovoltaic Power Systems
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[3] M Chandrasekar, S Rajkumar and D Valavan 2015 A Review on the Thermal
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and S C Christabel 2018 Experimental Investigation On Peltier Based Hybrid PV/T
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System (Sol Energy) vol 135 pp 874–883
[17] Zeyad A Haidar, Jamel Orfi and Zakariya Kaneesamkandi 2018 Experimental
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(Results in Physics)
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Solar Energy Utilization in Flat PV (Photovoltaic) Modules Cooled by Heat
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[22] Mohamed El Amine Slimani, Madjid Amirat, Ildikó Kurucz, Sofiane Bahria,
Abderrahmane Hamidat and Wafa Braham Chaouch 2016 A Detailed Thermal-
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pp 111–116
24
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A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of Distillate Water

Dhafer Manea Hachim

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A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of Distillate

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A Novel Hybrid PV/T System for Sustainable Production of

Angham Fadil Abed1 Dhafeer Manee Hachim2 and Saleh E Najim3

Abstract. A large portion of incident solar radiation on photovoltaic ( PV) panels is

2.1. Experimental setup

calibration, human errors, experiment conditions, uncontrolled variables, ambient conditions,

Table 1. Standard uncertainty, accuracy, and ranges of instruments.

Figure 1. Set up of experiment.

3.1. CFD modeling

 Photovoltaic cells are submerged in an EVA (ethylene-vinyl-acetate) polymer layer.

 photovoltaic panel with the same layers as in (PVREF).

Inner wetted wick

Outer wetted wick

4.1. For PVREF

4.2. For PVWD:

 Inner porous wick layer

 Back or outer porous wick layer

4.4. Thermal and electrical efficiency

4.5. Heat transfer coefficients used in Energy balance equations

2) Convective heat transfer coefficient

4.6. Governing Equations

4.7. Equations of Concentration

4.8. Boundary conditions

5. Use of Comsol multiphysics

Figure 3. Meshing of PVWD domain with various element.

Figure 4. Productivity grid testing with the number of elements.

RMSD(Tc)=9.9% Tc present simulation

7. Experimental variation of weather conditions

Figure 7. Variations of experimental solar irradiance and ambient temperature

8. Results and discussion

8.1. Temperature distribution

Figure 9. Streamlines and isotherms contours at 11:30 for: a) PVWD,b) CPVWD.

8.2. Variation of hourly and daily distillate outputs

8.3. The effect of mass flow rate variation

Figure 14. variation

8.4. Performances of energy

Top (Energy Build) vol 86 pp 692–697

Evaporative Chimney as a New Alternative to Enhance Solar Cooling (Renewable

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