2020 International Seminar on Intelligent Technology and Its Applications (ISITIA)

Hybrid PV-T Solar Collector using Amorphous

Type of Solar Cells for Solar Dryer
Elieser Tarigan
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, and
PusLET
University of Surabaya
Surabaya Indonesia
[email protected]

Abstract—Solar energy that available in the form of Solar PV modules give about 17 % [2], [3] of efficiency,
radiation can be directly converted into heat and/or which means that it converts the portion of solar energy
electricity using a solar device collector. Conventional solar falling into the modules electricity. The higher remaining
thermal collectors generally convert sunlight into heat solely, energy portion is absorbed by the cells and is converted into
an the other hand, a photovoltaic (PV) panels usually used heat, which results in a higher temperature of cells. On the
solely for generating electricity. In this study, a photovoltaic other hand, the efficiency of the PV module decreases when
solar panel is attempted to use both as solar thermal and as the cells temperature and the module increases mean less
electricity generator at the same time so-called hybrid electricity generated. Higher efficiency can be produced in
photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collector for a solar dryer the form of heat by solar thermal collectors system, and
system. The literature related to hybrid PV-T applications however, in comparison with PV modules (in the similar
are reviewed, and a small scale solar dryer utilizing area of dimension), the solar thermal collectors are
amorphous type photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) as a collector is
commonly more expensive.
designed and tested. A 40 Wp amorphous solar panel is used One way to increase the amount of harvested energy
as a solar collector and covered with double glass at the top. from solar radiation is by converting it with the
The output air temperature of the collector is found to vary combination of thermal or heat and energy electricity
from 35 to 50 oC during the day with the global solar generation in one single collector. The system is called
irradiation of 300 – 1000 W/m2. The output of electricity Hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) collectors. The hybrid
varies 4 – 25 Watt. PV-T also has the advantage that the PV module gets
cooled by the extraction of heat, and therefore it gives
higher efficiency. The most important thing that the
Keywords—solar dryer, PV-T, solar module, solar collector extracted heat can be used for other heating purposes such
as air heating in a solar dryer.
I. INTRODUCTION
The present studies are to review the development of
For many kinds of agricultural products, the drying hybrid PV-T collectors, particularly their use for solar
process is an essential process in post-harvest. The drying. Besides, a small hybrid PV-T solar collector was
productivity and the quality of products are affected by the designed and constructed for a solar dryer. The amorphous
adequateness of the drying process. In fact, the traditional PV module type was chosen for it less expensive in
sun drying to dry agricultural products is still practiced in comparison to other types of PV cells. A preliminary test
many places in Indonesia [1]. More appropriate ways need was carried out for the dryer, and the results are discussed.
to be attempted to improve the quality of products as well The designed dryer in this study is expected to use for
as the hygienists' aspects. At the same time, to improve the drying of herbal material, which is a part of studies in the
productivity and economics of the farmers. The utilization faculty of pharmacy, University of Surabaya, Indonesia.
of solar energy using solar dryers is one way for this The hybrid PV-T solar dryer is assumed a good application
purpose. Indonesia has advantages for its location around for such purposes as the heated air could be used directly to
the equator, where solar irradiation is available abundantly dry the products, while and electricity is to supply power to
throughout the year. control airflow and temperature in the drying chamber [4].
Solar radiation can be directly converted into heat
and/or electricity using a solar device collector. II. METHODS
Conventional solar thermal collectors generally convert The studies in this paper are done both by literature
sunlight into heat solely, an the other hand, a photovoltaic reviews and designing, constructing, and testing a small
(PV) panels usually used solely for generating electricity. In scale PV-T solar dryer. The literature review is done to
converting solar radiation into electricity, the commercial review the development of PV-T collectors and its

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application in solar drying. The overall methodology is as
shown in the flowchart in Fig.1.
A PV-T solar dryer based was constructed by
employing an amorphous type of PV module. The PV
modules acted as a solar collector, both thermal and
electricity. The module consists of 40 Wp capacity, covered
with double glass at the top. To minimize heat loss of the
collector, at the bottom and both sides are insulated with
rock wool and covered with a zink plate at the outer layer.
The specification of the PV module used as a solar collector
is presented in Table 1. The drying chamber was
Fig 2. The schematic diagram of the dryer
constructed separately and connected with the solar
collector with a pipe through where heated air flows to the
III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
trays in the chamber. The schematic of the dryer is shown
in Fig. 2. Preliminary evaluation (with no load), was A. Solar Hybrid PV-T Collectors Review
conducted, and the results are discussed.
A number of researches reported the studies on the topic
of solar hybrid PV-T air collectors. The following are the
selected publications that were reviewed in this section, and
among them are related to the application of solar drying.
Sharma et al. [5] and Sebaii & Shalaby [6] reviewed
different technologies of the solar dryer. It is reported that
very limited studies on the implementation of PV-T
technology for solar drying.
Chow [7] and Tyagi et al. [4] reviewed the technologies
development of PV-T collectors. They found that the hybrid
PV collectors technologies would be a promising type of
equipment in the future. Their reviews also show that
extensive research on hybrid PV-T system technologies has
been carried out during the last 30 years all over the world.
Hegazy [8] investigated the performance of four
different models of solar PV-T collectors with a variation of
air mass flow and flow ratio. The optimum flow ratio, i.e.,
Fig.1. The overall methodology flowchart channel depth to length, for variable mass flow operation
was reported about 2.5 x 10-3. While the optimum air mass
flow was found around 0.02 to 0.03 kg/s m². Bambrook et
TABEL 1. SPECIFICATION OF SOLAR PV MODULE USED al. [9] reported that additional energy from PV would
exceed the power needed by a fan with air flowrate in the
range of 0.03 – 0.05 kg/s m². A study on the electrical
Specifications Unit/Number/ performance of the mono-crystalline PV module under STC
Type as a result of cooling by forced air ventilation was reported
Solar Panel Type Amorphous by Kim et al. [10].

Dimensions 648x1253x37 (mm) Aste et al. [11] studied the performance of a hybrid PV-
T collector system was by comparing the results from the
real design with the theoretical model. It was found that
Maximum Power 40 Watt Peak using double glazing cover on the top of the collector
Current at max. power 1A resulted in higher thermal efficiency. This is due to the
lower heat losses through the top side. However, due to
Voltage at max 46 V losses by higher temperature operation, the electrical output
Maximum System Voltage 600 V decreased by about 16 %[12].

Open Circuit Voltage 61 V Tripanagnostopoulos [12] reported that the electrical

efficiency of the PV module increases by about 1.6% by
Short Circuit Current 1A cooling by using it as an air collector in comparison to the
normal operation. It was suggested that the surface of the
air channel opposite the PV panel should be made of
materials with high emissivity in order to increase the

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radiation heat transfer. The possibility of increasing the heat other hand, the wider area would be an advantage for its
transfer into the air was also studied. The air channel was function as a solar thermal collector.
modified to be like small fins on the surface, and placing
small tubes and thin metal sheet in the air channel. These The built solar collector is connected with a drying
modifications resulted in the raising of the opposite air chamber contains drying trays. The photograph of the solar
channel wall temperatures. dryer is shown in Fig. 4. The connection is through the
outlet air of the solar collector by using a PVC duct pipe.
The air channel depth effects in the solar PV-T The drying chamber is equipped with four small DC fan
collectors were investigated by Farshchimonfared et al. [13] installed on the top. The purpose of the fan is for air
Solar PV-T collectors with different area dimensions were circulation. In operation, fresh air flows through the air inlet
studied. The purposes of the studies were to identify the channel and gets heated in the solar collector by solar
optimum length/width ratio of the collectors. The size of the radiation. The heated air is used directly as a drying
total area corresponds to the optimum air channel was medium in the drying chamber.
investigated. The results showed that the collector width is
proportional to the air mass flow rate per unit collector area. The electricity generated by the PV panels is directly used
The effect of the airflow and heat transfer in the air gap to supply power for the fan. The electricity system has no
behind PV cells was studied and reported by Persson [14]. battery storage. The DC fans operating speed may change
It was reported that only a small portion of heat would be over time according to the power from the PV panels.
transferred from the PV modules to the air. It is estimated During higher solar radiation, the heat is collected would be
that the transferred heat varies from 7 - 26 %, and it higher as well, which means that the air temperature is also
depends on the air velocity. Tiwari et al. [15] investigated higher. At this moment, a higher speed of fans is needed,
the performance under the no-load condition of a mixed- which possible by a higher electricity power from the PV.
mode PV-T solar dryer. The generated electricity by the PV The solar panel was tested with the fixed position, i.e.,
module was used to supply power for a fan in the drying solar collector facing north, following the optimum
system for air circulation. position according to the site astronomical position of
Surabaya.
B. Desain of a Small Scale PV-T Solar Dryer From the preliminary test of the solar dryer with no
load, it is found that the temperature of the outlet air from
A small scale solar dryer that using a hybrid PV-T solar
the PV-T solar collector varies 35 – 50 oC corresponds to
collector was designed, constructed, and preliminarily
solar irradiation of varies 300 – 1000 W/m2. In parallel
tested. As earlier mentioned, the solar PV-T collector
time, the electricity generated by the PV panel varies 4 – 25
consists of 40 Wp amorphous type PV panels with
Watt. With this output power variation, it was affecting the
specifications, as shown in Table 1. The diagram and
speed of the circulating fan. During operation, the average
component of the solar collector are shown in Fig. 3. The
air temperature in the drying chamber (obtained from the
amorphous type of PV was chosen for its cheaper in price
solar collector), in comparison to the ambient, is shown in
(even though lower efficiency). The lower efficiency PV
Fig. 5. It can be concluded that the PV-T solar collector,
panel would be a wider dimension than then the other types
using an amorphous type of PV cells, works well as a solar
with higher efficiency for the same power capacity. On the
thermal and electricity collector for the dryer.

Fig. 3. Diagram of hybrid PV-T solar air collector: 1=Amorphous type of PV panels with double glass covered; 2=
insulation at the left, bottom and right sides; 3 = air inlet; 4 air outlet

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 Fig. 4. Photograph of a small scale PV-T solar dryer

Fig. 5. Temperature in the drying chamber in comparison with ambien

amorphous solar panel was about 15 Watt which

IV. CONCLUSIONS appropriates to supply a circulated fan for the dryer.

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