Evaluation of a divided manifold design for water-cooled PVT collectors: A combined CFD and experimental study
Applied Thermal Engineering, cilt.303, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 303
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132337
- Dergi Adı: Applied Thermal Engineering
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, DIALNET, Business Source Ultimate (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Active water cooling, Divided manifold, Experimental, Numerical, Photovoltaic
- Gazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
In recent years, photovoltaic (PV) systems have been extensively utilized to generate clean and renewable energy based electricity. However, general efficiency of PV panels is low and some factors like high panel temperature negatively affect the performance of PV systems. In the current study, it is aimed to manage thermal behavior of a PV panel using a novel water cooling system. The main novelty of the current work is using elliptically shaped copper cooling tubes with a flattened surface, combined with divided manifolds to upgrade heat transfer surface between copper tubes and photovoltaic panel. In this regard, two PV systems with the identical specifications were experimentally analyzed to specify the influence of water cooling using new heat exchanger design on the overall system efficiency. Also, the thermal performance of the designed system with modified tubes with conventional manifold design and that of the system incorporating elliptically modified tubes and a divided manifold structure were simulated using Ansys Fluent. Experimentally and numerically obtained results of the current study clearly indicated the superior effectiveness of the designed system with new tubes and manifold compared to conventional one. Crucially, comparative assessments revealed that the proposed transversal divided manifold configuration provides a more uniform temperature distribution and superior thermal cooling performance when directly compared to previously established longitudinal single-manifold designs. The electrical efficiency exhibited average increases of 7.06%, 12.36%, 18.37%, and 21.17% corresponding to flow rates of 3, 4, 5, and 6 lpm compared to the system without water cooling, respectively.