A review on recent development for the design and packaging of hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar systems

The design of high performance photovoltaic/thermal solar system involves many parameters related to thermal, economic and reliability issues. The current paper provides a comprehensive review for the recent studies that have discussed the design and cooling considerations to build a high performance hybrid Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) system. The review highlights the importance of the nanofluids and nano phase change materials (nanoPCMs) as an alternative for the traditional ways of cooling and storage. In addition, the application of the nanofluids in optical filtration has been covered. The main conclusions that have been reached at the end of the review show that cooling from both sides of the PV, with involvement of the optical filtration using nanofluid; will result in high improvements in the performance of the PV/T system. In addition, change of the channels cross section to honeycomb and induction of nanoPCM for storage and cooling purposes can provide better distribution of the thermal load.