Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

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Case Studies in Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/csite

Energy and exergy analysis of hybrid photovoltaic thermal solar

system under climatic condition of North Iraq
Omar Rafae Alomar a, *, Omar Mohammed Ali b
a
Northern Technical University, Engineering Technical College of Mosul, Mosul, Iraq
b
University of Zakho, Collage of Mechanical Engineering, Zakho, Iraq

G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Present study involves an exhaustive analysis on hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system to
Energy and exergy analysis display the actions of climate and operating conditions on its thermal and electrical efficiencies.
Photovoltaic thermal collector The performances of the system have been evaluated based on energy and exergy analysis using
Thermal and electrical efficiencies
the experimental data for the purpose of comparison. Experimental data have been measured for
Iraq climate Conditions
three different days in 2019 in Dohok city/north of Iraq under active mode. The results displayed
that the climatic conditions have significant effect on the energy and exergy outputs. The results
of energy analysis indicate that the maximum thermal and electric efficiencies in the range of
(25%–58%) and (12%–16%), respectively. The results of exergy analysis displayed that the op­
timum thermal and electric efficiencies in the range of (2%–7%) and (10%–18%), respectively.
The results also displayed that the solar panel temperature has a significant impact on the elec­
trical energy and exergy efficiencies. The total solutions illustrated that the employ of PVT water
system under active mode provides an obvious advantages and hence, the current work provides
an interesting information for evaluating the performances of PVT system. As consequence, it can
be advised for using in household applications at north of Iraq.

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: sedrarasha@yahoo.com, omar.alomar@ntu.edu.iq (O.R. Alomar).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csite.2021.101429
Received 9 May 2021; Received in revised form 1 September 2021; Accepted 4 September 2021
Available online 5 September 2021
2214-157X/© 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

Nomenclature

Ac Solar collector surface area, m2

Cp Specific energy, kJ/kg. K
Power, W
′
E
Power based on exergy, W
′
Ex
Consumed electrical power, W
′
Ep
Global exergy destruction, W
′
E xdes
FF Fill factor
FR Collector removal factor
I Current, A
Mass flow rate, kg/s
′
m
P Power, W
p Pressure, bar
Qu Useful energy, W
Heat loss
′
Q
Net solar heat transfer
′
S
Rate of entropy generation
′
Sgen
tg Glass cover thickness, m
t Time, s
T Temperature, ◦ C
T cell Cell temperature, ◦ C
Tg Glass temperature, ◦ C
Ta Ambient temperature, ◦ C
T* Apparent sun temperature, ◦ C
t Thickness, m
G Solar radiation, W/m2
xn independent variable
V Voltage, V
Ul Overall heat transfer coefficient, W/m2.◦ C

Greek letters
∅ Latitude of place, degree
ρ Air density, kg/m3
η Efficiency based on energy analysis
β Tilted angle, degree
τ Glass transmissivity
Δp Pressure difference, kPa
ω Uncertainty
α Absorber absorptivity
Ψ Efficiency based on exergy analysis

Subscripts
am Ambient
c Collector
des Destroyed
eff Effective
el or elect Electrical
i Inlet
loss Losses (destroyed)
m Maximum
netelect Net electric
opt Optical
O Outlet
p Pump
OC Open circuit
ref Reference
pv Photovoltaic
SC Short circuit

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

1. Introduction

Renewable energy sources are one of the effective solutions that used to obtain long-term actions for the energy sustainability and it
has several advantages such as environment friendly and non-exhaustible [1]. Among them, the solar energy is considered a useful,
cheap and environmentally friendly [2,3]. In recent the years, the electricity that generated by using solar energy becomes very
popular due to low its investment cost, where the main devices that required to convert the solar energy into electricity are: photo­
voltaics (PVs) and concentrated solar power systems [4]. Also, the combination of PV collector with different types of systems, e.g., air
and water heating systems plays an important role for producing energy [5,6].
Energy has an impact on human life and development of many sectors such as industry, agriculture, education and transport. The
solar thermal collectors are represented as heat exchangers which are utilised to convert the incident solar radiation into thermal
energy through a transport medium [7]. The main problem in north of Iraq is the inability for providing a continuous electricity and
hence, this problem can be solved using one the renewable energy sources [8]. The essential features of the traditional FPC collectors
are the metal box, insulation material, glass covers (single or double covers), black metal absorber plate and tubes either ducts or
passages set behind the absorbent plate surface [9]. The photovoltaic collector is utilised to convert the incident solar radiation directly
into electricity. The performance of PV model for generating electrical depends on the cell temperature, where its performance is
considerably affected by the cell temperature rise. The hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system represents a combination of thermal
and PV components simultaneously. Thus, the PVT models can be classified according to the heat transfer techniques and the method
of integrating PVT model, e.g., PVT based on heat pipe, Nano-fluids, phase change materials, bi-fluid, air and water [10]. In a real
situation, the intensity of solar radiation is available in all the seasons in Iraq and it is distributed through the cities on a regular basis,
which makes the employing of solar energy technology is suitable for energy production in Iraq. Therefore, the electrical generation
using tied-grid Photovoltaic systems has been already tested in Iraq [11,12]. The importance of using the Photovoltaic technology in
Iraq has prompted many researchers to investigate the technical parameters that used in such applications experimentally and
numerically [13,14]. Nevertheless, there is no studies considered the exergy analysis while evaluating the efficient usage of the
photovoltaic solar systems in southern and northern Iraq.
The exergy analysis evaluates the efficient usage of solar energy through calculating the sources and magnitude of irreversibilities
and therefore, this analysis can be utilised to improve the system performance [15]. Based on this, several studies have been conducted
using the exergy analysis to evaluate the performance of different PVT systems in residential [16], commercial [17] and industrial
[18]. Exergy analysis is employed in different fields of solar applications [19–28]. The ratio between the electricity and thermal output
of a domestic PVT system has been introduced as a dimensionless factor (packing factor) and hence, this factor can affect the design
and energy cost of the PVT system [5]. Th packing factor equal to 1.0 according to the first law of thermodynamic and it can be changed
to 17 by applying the exergy analysis and second law of thermodynamics [6]. Hazami et al. [27] provided a study on the potential
offered by the expenditure of PVT model in Tunisian household applications. In their study, two different methods have been used. The
first method is carried out under both passive and active modes, where an exhaustive energy and exergy analysis have been performed
to evaluate the thermal and the electrical exergy outputs of the system. The second method is the evaluation of the monthly/annual
performances of the PVT system under typical climate area of Tunisia using TRNSYS program. The results of first method show that the
optimum thermal and electric exergy efficiencies are equal 50% and 14.8%, respectively. On the other hand, the results of second
method indicated that the active mode enhances the electric efficiency and exergy of PVT system by 3% and 2.5%, respectively.
Jahromi et al. [29] numerically investigated the commercialized PVT system, exergy and economic analysis (exergy-economics) for a
specific collector using known technical parameters and prices for three cities in Iran (Tabriz, Shiraz and Esfahan). The results show
that the exergy efficiency has been obtained equal 9.7%, 9.6%, and 9.6% for those three cities Tabriz, Shiraz and Esfahan, respectively.
It has been concluded that with the specified economic parameters, the system is marginally economically feasible. Shahsavar et al.
[30] analysed the energy and the exergy performances of a naturally ventilated PVT air system. The system has been designed,
manufactured and tested at a geographic location of Kerman, Iran. The PVT system has been tested in both glassed and non-glassed
types. The theoretical model has been validated against experimental data and the comparison show good agreement between the
measured data and predicted results. After that, the model has been used to investigate the impact of the collector length, channel
depth, solar radiation and PV cell efficiency on total energy and exergy efficiencies of the studied system. Ghorbani et al. [31] used the
photovoltaic system and geothermal source to provide the heating and power for the integrated structure for the desalinated water,
generation of bio-liquefied natural gas and power using the upgrading biogas system. The results indicated that total thermal and
exergy efficiencies of the integrated system are 73.22% and 76.84%, respectively. Furthermore, the exergy analysis displayed that the
system with 70.05% and the towers with 8.05% of exergy destruction have the most exergy destruction to the overall devices. Later,
Ghorbani et al. [32] employed the photovoltaic panels to provide the power that required for producing continuous refrigeration at
low temperature through using two-stage ejector cooling plant. The solutions displayed that the exergy efficiency of the overall system
is 28.97%.
The literature review display that significant interesting have been given to PV system, where most of these studies have been
experimentally and numerically explained. Owing to the number of people in Iraq is raised, the energy demand is also extremely raised
in the last 10 years. Recently, the electricity production in Iraq extremely relies on burn oil and hence, this way losing the most
lucrative country’s exports. However, Iraq remains suffers from electricity shortages. Because of this problem in Iraq and its abundance

th Thermal
sun Sun

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

of solar energy, it is possible to merit the solar energy by employing PVT system as a remedy for the applications that required low
temperature, e.g., household applications in Iraq. A comprehensively literature review also reveals that there is a big lack of infor­
mation on the energy and exergy analysis of hybrid PVT solar systems for most cities in Iraq, especially the cities that located at north of
Iraq. Most of the former studies that dealt with PVT solar systems have been presented only the performance of PV systems based on
energy analysis and weather data for the cities that located south of Iraq. In reality, the environmental conditions in the cities located at
north of Iraq are differ than those of other cities located at south of Iraq. Based on this, there is no available study in the literature
considers the energy and exergy analysis of the hybrid PVT solar system using the weather conditions in the cities located north of Iraq.
In order to have a better understanding and hence precise control over the performance process, accurate predictions are required.
Therefore, the primary objective of the current work is to study the potential offered by the use of PVT solar collector using the climate
condition of Duhok city located at north of Iraq to simultaneously supply electricity and domestic hot water. Furthermore, to know the
capability of PVT system for decreasing the consumption of electric power which is employed for heating water through the year that
utilised for household applications in north of Iraq. The present study has been performed using the energy and exergy analysis to
obtain the thermal and electrical outputs of the PVT solar collector for the purpose of comparison. The data obtained from current work
have been compared with numerical results. The methodology used in this study is to evaluate the thermal and electric performances
by achieving of a series of experimentations under various Duhok climatic conditions through selecting a certain day in three different
months which are April, May and November in 2019. The data obtained from the current work would extremely be help through
improving a new technique of this issue in the future.

2. Experimental model

In the present study, a hybrid PVT solar system has been designed, fabricated and installed at the building roof of Duhok Technical
College of Engineering where the meteorological conditions of this building are Latitude (36◦ 51’41.0"N) and Longitude (42◦ 58’40.5"E)
[33]. The main components of PVT system are the thermal collector and PV panel. The collector consists of the following parts:
single-glass cover of 0.934 m2 (area) and photovoltaic module with maximum power of 150W. The photovoltaic module contains 36
solar cells manufactured from monocrystalline silicon with an area of 0.0243 m2 for each cell. The distance of air gap between the glass
cover and PV panel equal 0.025 m. The absorber plate has been made from the copper with a thickness of 0.00075 m and a mechanical
fixture on the back side of the PV panel. The pipes have been distributed in parallel way and they have fixed with the absorber plate.
The pipes have risers’ diameter of 0.12 m and headers diameter of 0.22 m, whereas the pipe length and distance between pipes are
equal 1.25 m and 0.05 m, respectively. The collector has been insulated using foam material with a thickness of 0.042 m. The collector
has been set with an optimum inclined tilt angle of 34.5◦ [33]. A storage water tank with a capacity of 100 litter has been used and it
has been directly connected to the collector. Twelve K-type thermocouples have been utilised for different locations inside PVT system
as shown in Fig. 1, which displays the schematic diagram of the hybrid PV/T collector parts, storage tank and the locations of the
measurements.
A pump with a water flowmeter of an accuracy ±4% has been used to measure the water velocity through system. A pyranometer
with a range of (0–1500) W/m2 and accuracy of ±0.3% has been used to measure the solar radiation. Furthermore, the wind velocity
has been measured by utilizing RK100-01 anemometer with an accuracy ±0.5 m/s. The digital multi-meter (MT- 1233D) with an
accuracy ± 1.2% has been employed for this purpose. The solar radiation, voltage, wind velocity, and temperatures have been recorded
during the experiments using a data logger NAPUI130D with (16-input channels) with an accuracy of ±0.2%. The technical specifi­
cations of the hybrid PV/T is displayed in Table 1.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system.

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

3. Uncertainty analysis

The uncertainty analysis for the present experimental data have been implemented to analyse and to calculate the errors. While the
thermal performance has been assumed to be function of known quantities ηth = f(m , A, G, Ti , Ta ), the electrical performance of PVT
′

system has been defined as ηel = f(G, Isc , Voc , Ac ) [34]. The uncertainties of thermal and electrical efficiencies ωηth and ωηel have been
estimated as follows:
{( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ( )2 }0.5
∂ηth ∂ηth ∂ηth ∂ηth ∂η
ωηth = ω ′ + ω + ω + ω + ω (1)
∂m′ m ∂A Ac ∂G G ∂Ta Ta ∂Ti Ti
[( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ]0.5
∂ηel ∂ηel ∂ηel ∂ηel
ωηel = ωIsc + ωVoc + ωApv + ωG (2)
∂Isc ∂Voc ∂Apv ∂G
The maximum uncertainty values of thermal and electrical efficiencies that obtained using Eqs. (1) and (2) have been found equal
4% and 0.3%, respectively.

4. Energy and exergy analysis

4.1. Assumptions

An analytical model (Isotropic Sky model) has been developed using the theoretical formulation that presented by Duffie and
Beckman [8]. The equations have been simulated using programming language. The following considerations have been made for
modeling:

1. The model has been performed under steady-state condition.

2. The heat transfer through the system components has been considered as one-dimensional.
3. The properties of insulation material and glass cover are constant (independent of temperature).
4. The ambient temperature of the back and front sides of the collector are similar.
5. The dirt and dust on the hybrid collector are negligible.
6. The ambient conditions and sky radiation are time-dependent.
7. Thermo-physical properties of the air gap and the fluid are temperature dependent.

4.2. Energy analysis

Based on the energy analysis, the thermal efficiency (ηth ) of the system can be defined as the ratio of useful heat gain (Qu ) to the
′

incident solar energy (G) and hence, it can be written as follows [14]:
∫ ′
Q dt
ηth = ∫ u (3)
Ac Gdt

where Qu can be calculated as follows:

′

[ ]
Qu = Ac FR G(τα)pv − UL (T − Ta ) (4)

By substituting Eq. (4) into Eq. (3), ηth is obtained as:

Table 1
Technical Specifications of the hybrid PV/T collector.
Variables Dimensions Variables Dimensions

Glass thickness, δg 0.004 m Insulation specific heat, Cj 1470J/kg K

Glass thermal conductivity, kg 0.9 W/m K insulation thermal conductivity ki 0.021 W/m K
Glass cover emissivity εg 0.88 insulation density ρi 40 kg/m3
Glass density ρg 2200 kg/m3 Do 0.0127 m
PV cells density ρpv 700 kg/m3 Di 0.010 m
Reference cell efficiency, ηref 15.1% Number of tubes 10
8
PV thermal conductivity, K PV 140 W/m K Stefan Boltzmann constant, σ 5.67*10− W/m2. K4
2
PV Panel emissivity, εpv 0.93 The aperture area of the collector, Ac 0.9344 m
Absorber plate specific heat C ab 385 J/kg K Plate thermal conductivity, kab 385 W/m k
Absorber plate density ρab 8950 kg/m3

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

Qu FR UL (T − Tam )
ηth = = FR (τα)pv − (5)
Ac G G

where FR displays the collector removal factor and UL represents the overall heat loss coefficient. On the other hand, the electrical
efficiency (ηel ) has been obtained as follows:

Voc Isc FF − E´p

ηel = (6)
GAPV

where FF is the fill factor and it is defined as:

Vm I m
FF = (7)
Voc Isc
The maximum power and the consumed electrical power by the pump have been evaluated, respectively, as follows:
Pm = Voc ∗Isc ∗FF = Vm ∗Im (8)

ḿ Δp
E´p = Ep = (9)
ρ ηp

where ḿ , Δp, ρ and ηp are the mass flowrate, pressure drop in PVT collector, water density and pump efficiency, respectively. The
energy utilization factor can be obtained as follows:
′ ′
Qth + EElec
F= (10)
A.G

4.3. Exergy analysis

The exergy analysis has been introduced based on the second law of thermodynamic. This analysis represents the most suitable
method for obtaining a clear vision on the performance of PVT system and degradation of energy through thermal and electrical
conversion processes. The exergy inflow comes from the solar radiation that felled on the collector surface and it can be defined as
[35]:
[ ]
T0
(11)
′ ′
E xQ,sun = S 1 − *
T

where T* represents the apparent sun temperature as an exergy source and S displays the net solar heat transfer, where S has a
′ ′

proportional relation with collector area A and solar radiation G. The value of apparent black body temperature (Tsun) is nearly equal
6000 K. Based on this, T* in the present analysis has been considered to be 4500 K. The thermal exergy (E xth ) has been evaluated using
′

the following formulation:

[ ]
Ta
(12)
′ ′
E xth = 1 − .Qth
Ts,w

On the other hand, the electrical exergy (E xelect ) can be calculated as the difference between the outlet electrical power by PV
′

module and the electrical power that consumed by pump:

(13)
′ ′ ′
E xelect = Eelect − Ep

In the present study, the net electrical energy yield (Qnetelect ), the exergy losses (E xloss ) that caused by heat leakage rate and the
′ ′

exergy destroyed rate due to pressure drop in flow pipes rate (E xdes,ΔP ) are defined in Eq. (14) – (16), respectively, as follows:
′

(14)
′ ′
Qnetelect = ηelec S − Pconspump
[ ]
T0
(15)
′
E xloss = UL .A. 1 −
Tcell
′
Ta m Δp
(16)
′
E xdes,ΔP =
ρ Tf
The rate of electrical exergy destroyed has been given as:
( ′ )
(17)
′
E xdes,ΔP = ISC .U0C − Im .Um − EP

The rate of exergy destroyed of PVT water collector that caused by optical losses in PVT collector surface can be calculated as

6
O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

follows:
( )
(18)
′ ′
E xloss,opt = E xQ,sun . 1 − (ατ)eff

On the other hand, the rate of exergy destroyed due to the temperature difference between the sun and PVT collector surface can be
determined as follows:
( [ ])
Ta
(19)
′ ′ ′
E xloss,sun− PVT = (ατ)eff .E xQ,sun − (ατ)eff .S 1 −
Tcell
Moreover, the rate of exergy destroyed due to the heat transfer from PVT surface to the working water at finite temperature
difference:
[ ( ´ )] [ ( ) ( ) ]
Ta Ta Ta
(20)
′ ′ ′ ′
E xloss,PVT = (ατ)eff .S 1 − − Qloss 1 − + Qth 1 − + UOC .ISC
Tcell Tcell Ts,w

where Qloss displays the rate of heat loss from PVT system to surrounding and hence, it can be calculated as follows:
′

(21)
′
Qloss = UL .A(Tcell − Ta )

Thus, the global exergy destruction (E xdes ) can be obtained by multiplying the reference environmental temperature (Ta,ref ) by the
′

rate of entropy generation (Sgen ) in control volume as follows:

′

(22)
′ ′
E xdes = Ta,ref .Sgen

The thermal and the electric efficiencies based on exergy analysis of PVT solar system can be written as follows:
′
E xth
Ψ Th = (23a)
E′ xQ,sun

′
E xelec
Ψ Elec = (23b)
E′ xQ,sun

In general, the exergy efficiency of PVT solar system can be evaluated as follows:
( )
′ [ ( )] ′ ′
Qth 1 − TTs,wa + η0 1 − β Tcell − Ta,ref S − Ep
Ψ Elec = ( ) (24)
1 − TTcella S′

5. Validation of the present work

In order to validate the present analysis, the outlet fluid temperature obtained by experiments has been compared with the nu­
merical results that presented by Khaled and Ali [10] on 2nd November 2019 for Duhok city during 2 h. The comparison is presented in
Fig. 2 which clearly shows a good agreement between the experimental and numerical results with maximum error not exceeded 5%.

6. Results

Present study includes an exhaustive energy and exergy analysis on a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system to evaluate their
instantaneous thermal and electrical energy and exergy outputs. The experiments have been carried out for a certain day in different

Fig. 2. Comparison of outlet water temperature between present experimental data and numerical results presented by Khaled and Ali [9] for PVT
solar collector on 2nd November 2019.

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

three months in 2019 in Duhok city/Iraq. These three days are 7th April, 16th May and 13th November. The results are presented in
Fig. 3-9.
The distributions of the ambient temperature and incident solar radiation are illustrated in Fig. 3, where real meteorological
measurements using thermometers and pyranometer. The results show that maximum ambient temperature and solar radiation have
been observed on 16th May as compared to others tested days. Fig. 4 also illustrates the distributions of PV panel temperature and
hence, the results show that the profiles of PV panel temperature has a same behaviour to the ambient temperature and solar radiation
in terms of maximum temperature value. This means that the ambient temperature and solar radiation are directly influences the panel
temperature. The panel temperature have highest values on 16th May. The variations of the solar exergy during the daily hours is given
in Fig. 5(a). The results show that the maximum value of solar exergy has been also recorded on 16th May due to high incident solar
radiation and ambient temperature have been observed as compared to other two days. The behaviors ensure that the effect of the solar
insolation and ambient temperature on the useful solar energy. The variations of thermal and electrical based on exergy analysis are
presented in Fig. 5(b) and (c), respectively. The results indicated that the maximum values of thermal and electrical have been found
on 16th May during the whole day. It can be concluded that the thermal exergy shows a maximum useful heat gain and hence, this
means that the amount of the waste power is very high. On the other hand, the electrical exergy has a close value to the electrical power
due to low waste power. The thermal and electrical energy efficiencies obtained with respect daily hours are presented in Fig. 6. The
results in Fig. 6(a) show that the thermal energy efficiency has been varied between 13% and 57% depends on the selected day and the
time during the day hours. On the other hand, the electrical energy efficiency in Fig. 6(b) has been observed to vary between 12% and
17% due to the variation of the selected day and the day hours. The high ambient temperature and solar radiation have been observed
on 16th May; therefore the highest values of energy efficiencies are occurred at this date.
The thermal and electrical efficiencies obtained with respect to daily hours based on exergy analysis are presented in Fig. 7. The
results in Fig. 7(a) show that the thermal efficiency has been varied between 2% and 7% depends on the selected day and most of the
heat gain has been lost to the surrounding. On the other hand, the electrical efficiency in Fig. 7(b) has been observed to vary from 10%
to 18% due to the losses are very low. Furthermore, the electric exergy efficiency has been increased due to the effect of the water in the
thermal collector. Although the high values of ambient temperature and solar radiation have been observed on 16th May, the
maximum electrical exergy destruction has been observed on 7th April due to the effect of the panel temperature. The maximum
electric exergy gain power has been obtained on 13th November due to climatic effects, although the maximum thermal exergy
production has been obtained on 16th May. The distributions of overall efficiency that obtained based on exergy analysis with respect
to daily hours for these three days are presented in Fig. 7(c). The results demonstrated that the overall efficiency on 13th November
and 7th April are greater than 16th May. This can be explained by that the most of thermal energy in 16th May have been dissipated to
the surrounding as thermal losses.
Fig. 8 shows the variations of thermal and electric efficiencies for both energy (in Fig. 8(a)) and exergy (in Fig. 8(b)) analysis with
respect to intensity of solar radiation. The results in Fig. 8(a) displays that the thermal efficiency increases with the increase in solar
radiation until reaches 400W/m2 and then, it remains nearly constant. On the other hand, the electrical efficiency linearly decreases
with increasing in solar radiation. For exergy analysis, the results in Fig. 8(b) displays that the electric efficiency is higher than thermal
efficiency, which means that most of the heat has been wasted and absorbed by the solar panel. Hence, the electrical efficiency has
been decreased with increasing in solar radiation. The average value of thermal efficiency has been varied from 25% to 58%. On the
other hand, the lowest value of electrical efficiency has been occurred on 16th May due to high PV panel temperature in this day. The
maximum value of electrical efficiency has been observed on 7th April and hence, the average value of electrical efficiency has been
varied from 12% to 16%. Similar behaviors and trends are obtained with the results of the Shahsava, Ameri and Gholampour [29] for
glazed PV/T collector at a geographic location of Kerman city in Iran. The variations of thermal and electric efficiencies for both energy
and exergy analysis with respect to PV panel temperature are presented in Fig. 9. The results show that the PV panel temperature has a
negative effects on the electric energy and exergy efficiencies. This means that the efficiency of photovoltaic cell to produce electrical
energy decreases as the temperature of the cell is increased. In addition, the results in Fig. 9(a) indicated that the thermal efficiency is
higher than the electric efficiency for energy analysis, which is not the case for exergy analysis in Fig. 9(b), where the electric efficiency
is higher than thermal efficiency. This can be explained by that the energy analysis depends on the first law of thermodynamic,

Fig. 3. Variations of (a) Ambient temperature Tamb and (b) solar radiation for a certain day in different three months in 2019.

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

Fig. 4. Variations of PV panel temperature for a certain day in different three months in 2019.

Fig. 5. Distributions of (a) solar exergy, (b) Thermal exergy and (c) electric exergy for a certain day in different three months in 2019.

whereas the exergy analysis is based on the second law of thermodynamic, where the system has been wasted most of the heat. It can be
concluded from the behaviours of the efficiencies and PV panel temperature that the climate conditions have significant effects on the
performance of a hybrid PVT system.

7. Conclusions

This paper presents an experimental study on a hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) solar system to investigate their instantaneous
thermal and electrical energy and exergy performances. The experiments has been done, based on the outdoor conditions of Dohok city
at north of Iraq, for different 3 days in 2019 (7th April, 16th May and 13th November) under active mode. The performances of the
system have been obtained based on the energy and exergy analysis to appraise the impacts of climate conditions and operating
parameters on the electric and thermal efficiencies of PVT solar system. The most important remarking points has been listed as:

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

Fig. 6. Distributions of (a) thermal efficiency, (b) electrical efficiency for a certain day in different three months in 2019.

Fig. 7. Distributions of (a) Thermal exergy efficiency, (b) electric exergy efficiency and (c)overall exergy efficiency for a certain day in different
three months in 2019.

1. Based on the present analysis, the data indicate that the climate conditions have considerable influence on the energy and exergy
outputs.
2. The intensity of solar radiation has a substantially impact on the thermal efficiency and slightly influence on the electric efficiency.
3. For the energy analysis, the results show that the thermal efficiency has been varied from 25% to 58%, whereas the electric ef­
ficiency has been varied from 12% to 16%.
4. For the exergy analysis, the results indicate that the thermal energy that wasted from PVT collector can enhance the electric ef­
ficiency of PV cells to 18%. The results also demonstrate that the maximum thermal and electric efficiencies have been varied from
2% to 7% and from 10% to 18%, respectively.
5. The increasing in PV panel temperature leads to reduce the electrical energy and exergy efficiencies.
6. The peak value of overall useful efficiency for exergy analysis has been varied from 12% to 20%.
7. Finally, the overall results show that the use of hybrid PVT solar system under active mode by utilizing the water mass flow provides
an obvious advantages. Therefore, it can be recommended for using in household applications at north of Iraq.

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O.R. Alomar and O.M. Ali Case Studies in Thermal Engineering 28 (2021) 101429

Fig. 8. Distributions of (a) Thermal and electric energy efficiency and (b) Thermal and electric exergy efficiency as a function of solar radiation.

Fig. 9. Distributions of (a) Thermal and electric energy efficiency and (b) Thermal and electric exergy efficiency as a function of PV panel
temperature.

Author statement

Omar Rafae Alomar and Omar Mohammed Ali: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software. Omar Rafae Alomar: Data cura­
tion, Writing- Original draft preparation. Omar Rafae Alomar: Visualization, Investigation. Omar Rafae Alomar: Supervision. Omar
Rafae Alomar and Omar Mohammed Ali: Software, Validation: Omar Rafae Alomar and Omar Mohammed Ali: Writing-
Reviewing and Editing.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to
influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgment

We would humbly like to express our appreciation to the University of Duhok and Northern Technical University, Iraq for their
laboratories support for this work.

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