Electrical characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) solar panel and hybrid PV/thermal (PV/T) solar panel

Solar collectors and photovoltaic (PV) solar panels can convert solar radiation into heat and electrical energy. A hybrid PV/thermal (PV/T) solar panel was tested in this study. The hybrid PV/T solar panel was tested using a spiral absorber and water flow levels range from 0.01 kg/s to 0.03 kg/s. As a result, with variable water flow rates and irradiation intensity of 700 and 900 W/m2, the efficiency of hybrid PV/T solar panels varied. The highest electrical efficiency attained was 4.06% in hybrid PV/T solar panels at 900 W/m2 with 0.025 kg/s of mass flow while 3.65% by PV solar panels. In addition, plotted current-voltage and power-voltage curves were used to show the electrical properties of the solar PV panels and hybrid PV/T solar panels.