Paper Title
A NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF PLACING POROUS METAL INSERTION INTO THE COLLECTOR TUBE OF A SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEM COMBINED WITH PCM-COPPER FOAM COMPOSITE.

Abstract
Abstract - In comparison with photovoltaic systems, in photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems, not only the electrical efficiency is higher, but also the solar thermal energy is transferred to a heat transfer fluid and used for different applications, i.e., electricity generation and interior water/air heating. In the present study, the thermal, hydraulic and electrical performances of a PVT system with a porous collector and PCM-copper foam composite are investigated using a numerical model. The results show a 41.59% increment in the thermal efficiency when the collector tube of a PVT system with porous PCM is filled by copper foam. In addition, despite the pressure drop enhancement due to copper foam insertion, the electrical efficiency increases by 1.53%. In addition, it is proven that when a PVT system with a porous collector is integrated with PCM-copper foam composite, the thermal and electrical efficiencies enhance by 17.9% and 1.6%. The simulations also prove that a coolant mass flow rate of 30 kg h–1 provides a higher thermal efficiency than those of 20 and 40 kg h–1 without any noticeable changes in the electrical efficiency. In addition, the effect of seasonal ambient conditions, i.e., temperature and solar radiation, on the performance of the PVT/porous PCM system with a porous collector tube is discussed. Keywords - Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) System, Phase Change Material (PCM), Porous Media, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Thermal, Electrical and Hydraulic Analyses