Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

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Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells

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

Optical behavior of a water/silver nanofluid and their influence on the T

performance of a photovoltaic-thermal collector
A.S. Abdelrazika,d, F.A. Al-Sulaimana,b,*, R. Saidurb,c
a
Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
b
Center of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy (CoRERE), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
c
Research Centre for Nano-Materials and Energy Technology (RCNMET), School of Science and Technology, Sunway University, Malaysia
d
Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Nanofluids have been identified as one of the potential solar energy absorbing media to improve the perfor-
Nanofluid mance of the photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system. Use of a nanofluid above the PV panel through optical fil-
Transmittance tration may improve the performance of PV/T systems. The aim of this study is to extend the current knowledge
Optical filtration of the parameters affecting the optical behavior of water/silver nanofluid through analytical and experimental
Water/silver
investigation. The effect of the optical path length and the concentration of the nanoparticles on the transmit-
Solar energy
PV/T
tance of water/Ag nanofluid were evaluated and an experimental correlation describing the relation was de-
veloped. The Rayleigh method was used to analytically evaluate the transmittance of nanofluid. Experiments
were conducted at five concentrations of Ag from 0.0005 wt % to 0.05 wt % using a UV–vis spectrophotometer at
path lengths of 2 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm. Experimental results were used to develop a correlation on the
transmittance of water/silver nanofluid with the concentrations and optical path length of nanofluid. The
transmittance of water/Ag nanofluid depends on the optical path length and concentration of the nanoparticles.
The transmittance is higher at shorter path lengths and low concentrations. The effects are most pronounced in
the spectral range from 250 nm to 1400 nm. The performance of a PV/T system with optical filtration showed
better overall performance than the standalone PV system at low concentration. The outcomes of this study are
useful in understanding the effect of using an optical filtration layer in PV/T solar collectors in capturing more
energy.

1. Introduction significantly affect the performance of the solar collectors [1].

Nanofluids received much attention in the past decade due to their
contributions in enhancement of heat transfer applications. In recent
years, there has been growing interest in studying the optical properties
of nanofluids. Optical properties are highly important in harvesting
more solar energy in PV/T system.
Nanofluids can be used with direct absorption solar collectors
(DASCs), PV panels, or hybrid (PV/T) solar collectors to increase the
absorption of solar energy. Nanofluids have very important properties
that should be taken into consideration when using them in such ap-
plications. They can be used for the absorption of solar energy in DASCs
or for the absorption and transmission in PV or PV/T systems for
cooling the PV through the upper surface. A challenging area in the
field of optical properties of nanofluids is how they are being affected
by the constituents of the nanofluids itself. Optical properties
Many parameters, such as the base fluid type, the type, size, shape,
and concentration of the nanoparticles, and the optical path length
affect the optical properties of nanofluids. Lately, researchers have
made considerable efforts to study these properties experimentally and
analytically. A majority of the published studies conducted from 2013
to 2018 are summarized here. Most studies have focused on the ab-
sorption and scattering properties of the nanofluids. In 2013, Lee and
Jang [2] conducted an experimental and analytical study to evaluate
the effect of the penetration depth in the water/MWCNT nanofluid on
the absorption of solar radiation in a DASC. They showed that the ab-
sorption increases as the penetration depth and concentration of the
nanoparticles are increased. The authors found that the effect of the
concentrations are more pronounced for larger nanoparticles. Said et al.
[3] also conducted both experimental and analytical studies in 2014 on
water-based nanofluids using Al2O3 and TiO2 nanoparticles. They

*
Corresponding author. Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
E-mail address: fahadas@kfupm.edu.sa (F.A. Al-Sulaiman).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110054
Received 3 March 2019; Received in revised form 6 July 2019; Accepted 11 July 2019
0927-0248/ © 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Nomenclature HTAB Hexadecytrimethyl-ammonium bromide

DLCA Diffusion limited cluster aggregation
T temperature, °C GMM Generalized multi-particle Mie solution
L length of PV/T system, m n Average number of aggregates
W width of PV/T system, m CFD-DEM Computational fluid dynamics/discrete element method
t height, mm EG Ethylene glycol
m mass, kg G solar radiation, W m-2
m. mass flow rate, kg s-1 h heat transfer coefficient, W m-2 K-1
cp specific heat, J kg-1 K-1 k thermal conductivity, W m-1 K-1
P Power, W Δx spatial step, m
Δt time step, sec
Greek symbols Q heat transfer, W
v velocity, m s-1
α absorptance C solar concentration
β temperature coefficient, K-1 τ transmittance
ε emissivity ɸw weight fraction
coθ the inclination angle of the system η efficiency
elec electrical
Subscripts th thermal
bc back cover
amb ambient bf base fluid (water)
g glass cover sky sky
of optical fluid EA Ethyl alcohol
pv PV module SA Surface area
ins insulation SSA Specific surface area
ppm Part per million
Abbreviations DI Deionized
DW Distilled water
PV/T photovoltaic/thermal DASC Direct absorption solar collector
TEM Transmission electron microscopy ATO Antimony-doped tin oxide
DLS Dynamic lght scattering GO Graphene oxide
EM Electromagnetic RGO Reduced-graphene oxide
VR Visible range PSD Particle size distribution
HCl Hydrochloric acid QCA Quasi crystalline approximation
SDS Sodium dodecyl sulfate LBM Lattice Boltzmann method
PVP Polyvinylpyrrolidone PUMWNTs Partially unzipped multi-walled carbon nanotubes
PEG Polyethylene glycol

studied the effect of the temperature and the concentration of the na-
noparticles on the optical properties. The optical properties were de-
termined in the range of 200 nm-1100 nm. The authors found that the
absorption, scattering, and the refractive index decrease with increasing
wavelength. In addition, scattering and the refractive index increased
with increasing concentration of the nanoparticles. In 2015, Du and
Tang [4] studied the effects of agglomeration and the size and con-
centration of the nanoparticles on the optical properties of the water/
Ag nanofluid. The authors used a theoretical approach based on the
Diffusion limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) simulation and the Gen-
eralized multi-particle Mie solution (GMM) solution and found that
agglomeration affects the absorption peak, reduces the transmittance,
and enhances the extinction coefficient. Extinction coefficient increased
with the size of the nanoparticles at long wavelengths and decreased at
short wavelengths. Also, the increase of the volume fraction showed a
positive effect on the extinction coefficient. Saroha et al. [5] studied the
effect of the depth of the nanofluid and the type of material of the
nanoparticles on the absorption of solar radiation in PV/T applications.
The authors reported that the spectral intensity decreases with in-
creasing depth of the nanofluid and the Ag and Au/water nanofluids
absorb the radiation at long wavelengths. In 2016, Milanese et al. [6]
conducted an experimental study on the effect of the type of material of
the nanoparticles and their concentration on the optical properties of
water/metal-oxide nanofluids. The authors made measurements in the
spectral range of 200 nm-1300 nm and found that the transmittance is
higher at low concentrations of Al2O3, CuO, TiO2, ZnO, CeO2, and
Fe2O3 nanoparticles. Al2O3 showed the highest transmission values
over the entire spectral range, while CuO showed the highest capability
in absorbing solar radiation. Al-Shohani et al. [7] conducted an ex-
perimental study on the effect of the thickness of a layer of water on its
transmittance of solar radiation. The authors found that the transmit-
tance decreases with increasing water thickness and that the effect is
more pronounced in the NIR (700–1000 nm). Said [8] conducted an
experimental study on the optical properties of the water/SWCNT na-
nofluid and found that the transmittance decreases and the extinction
coefficient increases with increasing nanoparticle concentration.
Ziming et al. [9] prepared the seawater/TiO2 nanofluid and studied its
optical properties experimentally and analytically. They evaluated the
effect of the size of the nanoparticles and the salt concentration in
seawater, and compared the results with those obtained for the fresh-
water/TiO2 nanofluid. The authors reported that when the salt con-
centration is increased, the spectral extinction increases and the
transmittance decreases for small particles, while for larger particles
both the extinction coefficient and transmittance oscillate due to dif-
fraction. Recently, in 2018, Yu and Xuan [10] conducted an experi-
mental study on the effect of the addition of Ag nanoparticles to the DI
water/CuO nanofluid on its optical properties and found that the ab-
sorption increases as the percentage of Ag in the CuO/Ag composite is
increased. In addition, they also found that the photo-thermal conver-
sion efficiency increases with increasing volume fraction. Many other
studies have been conducted on the optical properties of nanofluids. A
summary of more studies can be found in Table 1.

2
 Table 1
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al.

Summary of the studies conducted on the optical properties of nanofluids in the past six years (2013–2018).
Authors BF NP Parameter Method Results

Sajid et al. [1], 2014 DW Al2O3 Aggregation EX Extinction coefficient decreased with time in the visible region close to IR region.
Transparency to EM waves increased by about 10-35% in the same range during the
first 6 h.
Song et al. [11], 2016 DI water and Al2O3 Aggregation AN ✓ Small aggregated particle sizes led to a higher absorption coefficient.
pure EA ✓ Absorption coefficient decreased with wavelength.
Vakili et al. [12], 2016 DI water GNPs Nanoparticle concentration and EX ✓ Strong absorption was shown in the range of 250-300 nm
temperature ✓ Absorption coefficient increased with the concentration of GNPs.
Shende and Ramaprabhu DI water and EG PUMWNTs Nanoparticle concentration EX ✓ Extinction coefficient of the nanofluids was higher than that of the base fluid
[13], 2016 even at low concentrations.
✓ Highest transmittance was obtained for pure water and it decreased with increasing
concentration.
✓ DI-water-based nanofluids showed better optical properties than EG-based
nanofluids due to the higher viscosity of EG.
Song et al. [14], 2016 Water TiO2 Nanoparticle concentration and particle EX and ✓ Controlling the PSD allowed to get a better match between the predicted and
aggregation NUM measured optical properties.
✓ As aggregation is increased, scattering coefficient can become higher than the
absorption coefficient.
Holm et al. [15], 2017 Water Al, Ag, Cu and Au Nanoparticle material type and NUM ✓ As the nanoparticle size is increased, both absorption and scattering increased.
nanoparticle size ✓ Scattering can be neglected for small nanoparticle sizes.
✓ Au and Cu particles of 140 nm size showed the highest absorption in the range of

3
Jianyu et al. [16], 2017
Chen et al. [17], 2017
Chenet al. [18], 2017
Chen et al. [19], 2017
Amjad et al. [20], 2018
400-600 nm wavelength
✓ Water/Ag showed the highest absorption and scattering efficiencies with
nanoparticles between 30-50 nm and 60–100 nm, respectively.
DI water TiO2 Scattering and nanoparticle size AN ✓ At d = 20 nm, scattering effect can be neglected.
✓ Transmittance is greater when scattering is present as compared to the case
without scattering.
✓ For very large particle sizes, scattering and transmittance fluctuate due to
diffraction.
✓ Change of the transmittance, absorption, and scattering were smooth in the case of
small particle sizes (20-60 nm)
DW GO Nanoparticles concentratio, EX ✓ Compared to water, as the concentration of nanoparticles is increased, the
Temperature and Irradiation time spectral extinction coefficient increased and the spectral transmittance
decreased.
✓ The same occurred when the irradiation time was increased.
Water GO and RGO Nanoparticle material type EX ✓ Transmittance of the GO nanofluid was better than that of the RGO nanofluid.
✓ RGO nanofluid showed higher thermal conductivity with lower specific heat.
Ionic liquid SiC Nanoparticle concentration EX ✓ SiC nanofluid showed a higher absorptance with very low transmittance when
compared to the pure ionic fluid.
DI water Ag, Cu, Zn, Fe, Si and Light to heat conversion capability EX ✓ All nanofluids had high solar absorption than the base fluids.
Al2O3-γ ✓ Ag was the best due to its plasmonic resonance nature.
✓ Ag showed the highest temperature levels in the nanofluid.
✓ In contrast, Al2O3-γ showed the lowest temperature levels in the nanofluid.

*EX: Experimental, AN: Analytical and NUM: Numerical.

Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Clearly, many attempts have been made with the purpose of un-
derstanding the optical behavior of nanofluids. The novel application of
nanofluids as optical filters in PV/T collectors requires the study of the
optical properties of nanofluids, especially their ability to transmit solar
radiation as the transmittance of the nanofluid can be considered as the
most important optical parameter to achieve the purpose of the optical
filtration. An optical filtration device is typically placed as a channel
above the PV panel in the PV/T systems. The main requirement of the
filtration device is to transmit only the solar radiation in the spectral
range beneficial to the PV panels and absorb the remainder. Thus, the
transmittance of an optical filter is one of the parameters that sub-
stantially affect the performance of a PV/T system.
Published studies on the effect of the optical path length, together
with the concentration of the nanoparticles, on the spectral transmit-
tance of a layer of nanofluid do not exist according to the authors’
knowledge. Moreover, no study has been done to develop a correlation
that describes such relation and its effect on the transmittance of the
nanofluid. Thus, in this study the effect of the optical path length
(channel height) and the concentration of the Ag nanoparticles on the
spectral and overall transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid was
evaluated experimentally and analytically. In addition, an experimental
correlation among the transmittance, optical path length, and the
concentration of the nanoparticles was developed. Comparison between
the performances of a PV/T system with optical filtration and a stan-
dalone PV system was reported at the end.
2. Methodology
In order to understand the optical behavior of a nanofluid, the op-
tical properties of the water/silver nanofluid were studied analytically
and experimentally. In both cases, the effect of the concentration of the
nanoparticles and the length of the optical path on the transmittance of
the fluid were investigated. The transmittance was calculated analyti-
cally using the Rayleigh method and the water/silver nanofluid was
prepared, characterized, and the transmittance was measured as a
function of the concentration and the path length.
2.1. Experimental details
2.1.1. Materials
Commercially available Ag nanoparticles with a spherical shape
were purchased from Nanografi, Turkey. The Ag concentration in the
nanoparticles is more than 99.5% and their average diameter is about
18 nm. Water was used as the base fluid to prepare the water-silver
nanofluids.
2.1.2. Nanofluid preparation and characterization
Nanofluid samples were prepared using two-step method. The Ag
nanoparticles were added directly to water at different weight con-
centrations of 0.0005, 0.001, 0.005, 0.01 and 0.05 wt % to prepare the
nanofluids. The mixture was then sonicated continuously for 1 h using
an ultrasonic probe sonicator (750 W) at a 50% power amplitude and a
5:2 on/off pulse adjustment. The temperature of the mixture was con-
trolled using a water bath.
Both field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and
Raman spectroscopy were used to characterize the nanoparticles. The
FESEM was used to determine the morphology of the nanoparticles and
Raman spectroscopy was used to ascertain whether the nanoparticles
conform to their specifications. Lastly, the stability of the prepared
nanofluid was studied using visual inspection for around one month
after preparation and the results are mentioned in 3.1.
2.1.3. Transmittance measurements
The spectral transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid samples with
Cuvettes with optical lengths of 2 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm were used.
Each measurement was repeated three times to assure reproducibility
and the average results were calculated. The spectral transmittance was
measured in the range of 250 nm–2500 nm at atmospheric conditions.
2.2. Analytical approach
There are many analytical methods to investigate the optical
properties of nanofluids. Among them, the Rayleigh method and Mie
theory are considered the best available approaches to evaluate the
optical properties of nanofluids. In this study, the Rayleigh method is
used to calculate the transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluids with
different nanoparticle concentrations and different optical lengths.
2.2.1. Mathematical model
In this section, the mathematical equations based on the Rayleigh
method required to calculate the transmittance of the water/Ag nano-
fluids are summarized.
The size parameter of the nanoparticles is defined by the following
dimensionless equation:
πdnp
α=
λ 1
where, dnp is the nanoparticles diameter in nm, and λ is the wavelength
in nm.
The following equation is used to calculate the intensity of the in-
coming radiation:
∂Iλ
= −(kof , λ + σof , λ ) Iλ = −βof , λ Iλ
∂y 2
2
where Iλ is the spectral solar irradiance in W/m . nm. The standard
AM1.5 Global solar spectrum with a range of 280 nm–2500 nm and an
integrated power of 992 W/m2defined by ASTM G-173 [21] is used as
the solar spectrum in this study.
k of,λ , σof, λ and βof, λ are the linear absorption, scattering, and ex-
tinction coefficients of the nanofluids, respectively.
As pure water without any nanoparticles does not scatter sunlight,
only the linear absorption coefficient for water Kbf,λ is considered. The
extinction coefficient of water β bf, λ, which is approximately equal to
Kbf,λ , can be calculated as follows [22]:
4πkbf , λ
βbf , λ ≅ Kbf , λ =
λ 3
where kbf,λ is the imaginary part of the refractive index of water.
As they are independent, the extinction coefficient of the nanofluid
is the sum of the absorption coefficient of the base fluid and the ex-
tinction coefficient of the nanoparticles (Eq. (4)) [23].
βof , λ = βbf , λ + βnp, λ 4
where βnp, λ is the sum of the linear absorption and scattering coeffi-
cients of the nanoparticles and is defined by Eq. (5) [24].
3 ∅Qext , λ
βnp, λ =
2 dnp 5
where Qext, λ is the extinction efficiency of the nanoparticles and is
calculated according to the Mie theory by Eq. (6) [25].
Qext , λ = Qabs, λ + Qscat , λ 6
where Qabs, λ and Qscat, λ are the absorption and scattering efficiencies of
the nanoparticles, which can be calculated using Rayleigh's approx-
imation equations as described in several standard texts by Eq. (7) and
Eq. (8).
m2 − 1 ⎡ α 2 ⎛ m2 − 1 ⎞ m4 + 27m2 + 38 ⎤ ⎫
Qabs, λ = 4α *Im ⎧ 2 1+ ⎜× ⎟

⎨ m + 2 ⎢ 15 2
⎝m + 2⎠ 2m2 + 3 ⎥⎬ 7
⎩ ⎣ ⎦⎭
different concentrations was measured with a UV-670 double beam
UV–vis spectrophotometer with a measurement range of 190–2700 nm. where, Im { } refers to the imaginary part for the number between

4
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

brackets. the thermal, and electrical efficiencies. The governing equations of the
2 hybrid PV/T system are shown in Table 2. The constant parameters
8 4 m2
−1
Qscat , λ = α involved in the study are summarized in Table 3.
3 m2 + 2 8 The thermal and electrical efficiencies are calculated as described in
where m is the relative complex refractive index of the nanofluid, which Eq. (17) and Eq. (18):
can be calculated using the following relationship: .
Pelec
ηelec =
mnp AG 17
m=
nbf 9 Qth.
ηth =
where nbf is the real component of the refractive index of the base fluid AG 18
and mnp is the complex refractive index of the nanoparticles calculated where, .
Pelec and Qth.
are the electrical and thermal output powers and are
by Eq. (10). calculated as in Eq. (19) and Eq. (20)
mnp = nnp + iknp 10 2.5μm

where nnp and knp are the real and imaginary components of the re-
fractive index of the nanoparticles.
Then, the extinction coefficient of the nanofluid is determined, and
the spectral transmittance of the nanofluid is calculated using the
Beer–Lambert–Bouguer law as follows [26]:
Iλ
τof , λ = = e−hof βof , λ
I0, λ 11
where Iλ is the transmitted irradiation, I0,λ is the incident irradiation
(AM1.5 Global [ASTM G-173]), and h of is the fluid thickness (or optical
path length) of the optical nanofluid. Even though scattering con-
tributes to the extinction coefficient, the loss of solar energy due to
scattering is ignored because the nanoparticles are extremely small
(~ 18 nm).
The total transmittance of the nanofluid-based optical filter is then
calculated using Eq. (12).
2.5 μm
I ∫ τ I dλ
0.28 μm of , λ 0, λ
τof = = 2.5 μm
I0 ∫ I dλ
0.28 μm 0, λ 12
2.3. Application on the performance of PV/T system
In this section, a quick assessment for the effect of the nanoparticles
concentration and path length on the performance of the hybrid PV/
thermal (PV/T) system is discussed. The PV/T system composed of a PV
panel with an optical filtration channel attached on top of it. The PV
panel is insulated from the bottom side. The electrical efficiency was
calculated at nanoparticle concentrations of 0.0005%, 0.005%, 0.05%
and 0.5% by weight. In addition, it was calculated at path lengths of
2 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm and 20 mm. The path length in this study is re-
presented by the optical nanofluid channel height. The efficiency re-
sults were compared to the electrical efficiency of a standalone PV
system. The required governing energy equations were developed and
solved numerically using Matlab 2017b program. Fig. 1 shows a sche-
matic diagram for the studied PV/T system with optical filtration
channel.
2.3.1. Mathematical model
The performance of the PV/T was evaluated through the calculation
.
Pelec = τg cos (θ) ∫ τof, λ Gλ ηc, ref , λ [1 − β (Tpv − Tref )] dλ
0.25μm 19
Qth. = mof. cp, of (Tof , out − Tof , in ) 20
As the main target of the study is to compare the performance of the
PV/T system with optical filtration to that for a standalone PV system, it
was better to convert the thermal output of the PV/T system to an
equivalent electrical output. Assuming that the thermal output can be
converted to an electrical output with an average conversion efficiency
for the plants of 40% (as for the gas and combined plants [27]), the
equivalent electrical output of the PV/T system with an optical filtra-
tion will be:
ηelec, eq = ηelec + 0.4 ηth 21
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Stability and characterization of the nanofluids
Stability of a nanofluid is a very important parameter that will en-
sure the applicability of the results. The nanofluids of different con-
centration were allowed to stand in small vials and monitored for one
month. A visual inspection indicates that the nanofluids with a low
concentration of nanoparticles are highly stable, and when the con-
centration of nanoparticles is increased the stability decreases. The
nanofluids with the two higher concentrations, i.e., 0.01 wt % and
0.05 wt %, are the least stable. Fig. 2 shows the appearance of the five
nanofluid samples as a function of time, with their identities described
in Table 4. In addition, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 show the results of the FESEM
and Raman spectroscopic characterization of the Ag sample, respec-
tively. Fig. 4 showed that the specifications of the received Ag nano-
particles are the same as that provided by the supplier.
3.2. Validation of the transmittance results
The results obtained experimentally and analytically were validated
by comparing them with previous experimental work by Karami et al.
[28]. They experimentally determined the transmittance of the Cu/
water nanofluid and the base fluid of water using a standard cuvette
with an optical length of 10 mm. The same conditions used to measure

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram for the studied PV/T system with optical filtration.

5
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Table 3

Eq. 13

Eq. 14

Eq. 15

Eq. 16
Eq. Constant parameters used in the study.
Parameter Value Parameter Value

L 0.7 m εg 0.9
W 0.3 m τg 0.9
tg 3 mm αg 0.05
tpv 3 mm αpv 0.945
tins 25 mm εbc 0.09
tbc 3 mm ηref 11.5%
Δx 0.01 m Tref 25 °C
dTpv

1.5 m s-1
dx

v Tamb 25 °C
− Tbc ) + ∫ Wtpv kpv

the spectral transmittance of water by Karami et al. [28] were applied

out − x

in − x

for the experimental and analytical work of this study. Very good
agreement was found between the experimental results of this study
and those reported by the Karami et al. [28]. However, a slight dif-
ference exists between the results obtained analytically in this study
(Tpv

and the results obtained experimentally by Karami et al. [28], which

Δ xWkins
tins

can be attributed due to the limitations and approximations made when

obtaining results analytically. Fig. 5 shows the spectral transmittance of
+ ΔxWhof (Tpv − Tof ) +

water obtained experimentally and analytically in this study compared

dTg
dx

with that obtained experimentally by Karami et al. [28]. It can be noted

+ ΔxWhrad, g (Tg − Tsky ) + ΔxWhamb (Tg − Tamb) + ΔxWhof (Tg − Tof ) + ∫ Wtg k g

that the areas under the three curves, which represent the total trans-
mittances in the three cases are close to each other.
out − x

in − x

3.3. Experimental results on transmittance

dTbc
dTpv

dx
dt

+ ΔxWhrad, bc (Tbc − Tamb) + ΔxWhamb (Tbc − Tamb) + ∫ Wtbc kbc

ΔxW αpv τg cos(θ) ∫ τof, λ CGλ dλ − τg cos(θ) ∫ τof, λ CGλ ηc, ref , λ [1 − β (Tpv − Tref )]dλ = mpv cppv

Fig. 6 shows the effect of the concentration of Ag nanoparticles by

weight on the spectral transmittance of water/Ag nanofluid at different
out − x

in − x
∫ α of, λ CGλ dλ = ΔxWhof (Tof − Tg) + ΔxWhof (Tof − Tpv) + ∫ mof. cof dTof

path lengths determined using a UV–vis spectrophotometer. As the

⎫
⎬
⎭

concentration of nanoparticles is increased, the spectral transmittance

decreases. The effect of the concentration is pronounced in the range of
out − x

in − x

250 nm–1400 nm (UV, Vis and NIR ranges), while it can be neglected at
higher wavelengths (MIR range) except at the highest concentration
(0.05 wt %). For the short path length (Fig. 6 (a)), the spectral trans-
mittance at low concentrations (0.0005 and 0.001 wt %) is almost
constant and decreases slightly at medium concentrations (0.005 and
0.01 wt %). On the other hand, at a path length of 5 mm (Fig. 6 (b)), the
decrease in the spectral transmittance with concentration is much more
significant. For the standard cuvette size of 10 mm (Fig. 6 (c)), the
0.25μm
2.5μm

concentration of the nanoparticles has a drastic effect on the spectral

transmittance. At Ag concentration of 0.05 wt % and a path length of
10 mm, the nanofluid displays opaque behavior with almost zero
Governing equations of the hybrid PV/T system with opticla filtration.

dTg

transmittance (Fig. 6 (c)). Comparison of the results in Fig. 6 (c) with

dt
∫ CGλ dλ = mg cpg

those for water in Fig. 5, indicates that the addition of Ag nanoparticles

dTbc
dt

increases the absorbance of solar radiation at the intersection of the UV

− Tbc ) = mbc cpbc

and Vis spectra. In addition, the transmission is very low in the MIR
0.25μm
2.5μm

range when Ag nanoparticles are present. The main requirement of an

Governing Equations

optical filter for PV performance improvement is to transmit only the

0.25μm
2.5μm

0.25μm
2.5μm

radiation in the desired spectral range (723–1067 nm) to maintain

ΔxWαg cos (θ)

ΔxWτg cos(θ)

electrical efficiency [29]. Even though the increase of the Ag con-

(Tpv

centration helps in reaching the required target, it also reduces the

Δ xWkins
⎧
⎨
⎩

tins

amount of solar energy reaching the PV.

Fig. 7 shows the effect of the optical path length on the spectral
transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluids at different concentrations of
Ag nanoparticles by weight. The spectral transmittance decreases with
increasing path length, with the effect most pronounced in the wave-
length range from 250 nm–1150 nm. As mentioned earlier, the effect of
the path length is very small at low concentrations, i.e., 0.0005 wt %, or
when Ag nanoparticles are absent, especially in the spectral range of
250 nm–900 nm. The effect of path length becomes more significant
Optical fluid
Equation for

Glass cover

when the Ag concentration is increased. The spectral transmittance

Back cover
PV panel

decreases in the Vis and NIR ranges with increasing path length. In
Table 2

addition, the decrease of the transmittance in the UV range due to the

increase in path length is very small as compared to the decrease in

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A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Fig. 2. Visual determination of the stability of water/Ag nanofluids.

Table 4
The concentration of water/Ag nanofluid samples.
Sample identity The concentration of Ag nanoparticles (wt %)

a 0.0005
b 0.001
c 0.005
d 0.01
e 0.05

Fig. 5. Comparison of the transmittance of water determined experimentally

and analytically with that determined experimentally by Karami et al. [11].

same for a given path length. At higher concentrations, i.e., 0.005 wt %

Fig. 3. Image of the Ag sample obtained with scanning electron microscopy
(FESEM).
Fig. 4. Raman spectrum of the Ag sample.
transmittance in the Vis and NIR ranges. The spectral transmittance
values between 1150 nm and 1400 nm at low concentrations of 0.0005
and 0.001 wt % and when Ag nanoparticles are absent are almost the
and 0.01 wt %, the difference in spectral transmittance at different path
lengths remains almost constant, but the absolute values decrease. At
the highest concentration of 0.05 wt% (Fig. 7 (f)), the spectral trans-
mittance significantly decreases at a much higher rate than at lower
concentrations. In the remainder of the spectral range (MIR), i.e.,
1400 nm–2500 nm, the spectral transmittance remains almost the same
at all concentrations except for the highest concentration, for which a
slight decrease is observed (Fig. 7 (f)). Thus, the optical path length
mainly affects the transmittance in the Vis and NIR spectral ranges.
The area under the spectral transmittance curve was integrated in
the spectral response range of the PV panel (~400 nm–1100nm) to
obtain the overall transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid at different
concentrations and path lengths. Transmittance decreases with in-
creasing concentration of the nanoparticles and the path length as de-
picted in Fig. 8 (a). At very low concentrations (0.0005 wt %), the path
length does not have a large effect. The decrease in the transmittance
when the path length is increased from 2 mm to 10 mm is about 8%.
The rate of decrease of the transmittance increases with the path length
when the concentration of the nanoparticles is increased. The re-
lationship between the transmittance and the path length switches from
inverse linear to exponential as can be seen in Fig. 8 (b).
In summary, the spectral range between 250 nm and 1400 nm is the
most effective range where the effect of the concentration of the na-
noparticles and the path length is most pronounced. This range exceeds
the range required by the PV panel (400 nm–1100 nm), which may
result in transmitting more energy that will be stored as heat in the
panel, decreasing its efficiency. However, the main target is to get the
highest possible transmittance within the response range of the PV
panel and not more. It can be seen that at a short path length and a low

7
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al.
Fig. 6. The effect of the Ag concentration on the spectral transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid at different path lengths: (a) Path length = 2 mm, (b) Path
length = 5 mm, and (c) Path length = 10 mm.
concentration of the nanoparticles, the transmittance remains almost
unchanged. Transmittance decreases as the path length and con-
centration of the nanoparticles are increased. The largest effect of the
concentration of the nanoparticles and the optical path length was
observed in the Vis and NIR spectral ranges, while the smallest effect
was observed in the MIR range. Except at high values of the con-
centration of the nanoparticles, the effect on transmittance in the MIR
range is negligible. The highest transmittance was obtained for pure
water.
With the results shown in Fig. 8 and using the best fitting correla-
tions derived from each separate curve, an experimental correlation
that relates the transmittance of water/Ag nanofluids and the con-
centration of the Ag nanoparticles and the optical path length was de-
veloped.
Assuming an exponential relationship, the developed correlation is
as follows:
τ = (−0.09PW 2 + 0.5204PW + 102.56) e−(10.082PW + 2.135) ∅w
where, τ is in (%), PW is in (mm), and ∅w is the percent concentration
by weight.
The transmittance values calculated using the correlation and the
experimental results agree very well with average and maximum error
percentages of 3% and 5.2%, respectively. Fig. 9 shows a comparison
between the experimental results and the transmittance values calcu-
lated using the developed correlation.
3.4. Analytically derived results
Due to limitations of the experimental work, an analytical analysis
was done on the effect of the size of nanoparticles and to verify the
8
Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054
experimental results. The mathematical equations of the Rayleigh
method described in section 2.2 were solved analytically using the solar
spectrum from 280 nm to 2500 nm depicted in Fig. 10 and the refractive
indices of water and silver [30] listed in Table 5. The spectral trans-
mittance was calculated for different sizes of the nanoparticles in the
range of 2.5–50 nm. The effect of five different Ag volume concentra-
tions from 0.0001 vol % to 0.01 vol % and five different path lengths
starting from 5 mm up to 30 mm was also evaluated, taking the lim-
itations of the Rayleigh method into consideration.
Fig. 11 shows the transmittance of the nanofluid as weighted by the
solar radiation given in Fig. 10. In Fig. 11 (a), the transmittance of the
nanofluid is a function of the concentration of the nanoparticles for
different path lengths. The transmittance decreases at the same rate for
all path lengths when the concentration of the nanoparticles is in-
creased. The rate of decrease of transmittance increases with increasing
path length. A significant difference exists between the values of
transmittance at path lengths of 5 mm and 10 mm. However, the de-
crease in transmittance is smaller when the path length is further in-
creased above 10 mm. The highest transmittance at all path lengths is
observed for pure water.
The decrease in the transmittance with increasing concentration of
the nanoparticles and the optical path length is clearly shown by the
results depicted in Fig. 11 (b). As the path length is increased, the rate
of decrease of the transmittance with path length decreases.
Fig. 12 shows the transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid as a
function of the size of the nanoparticles at different concentrations. The
transmittance was calculated for nanoparticle of sizes 2.5, 5, 10, 20,
and 50 nm and at a constant path length of 10 mm. For smaller nano-
particles (< 20 nm), the transmittance does not depend on the size of
the nanoparticles. However, the transmittance decreases with in-
creasing size of the nanoparticles for larger nanoparticles (> 20 nm).
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Fig. 7. The effect of the path length on the spectral transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid at different Ag concentrations: (a) Ag concentration = 0.00 wt % (pure
water), (b) Ag concentration = 0.0005 wt %, (c) Ag concentration = 0.001 wt %, (d) Ag concentration = 0.005 wt %, (e) Ag concentration = 0.01 wt %, and (f) Ag
concentration = 0.05 wt %.

In summary, the transmittance is highly dependent on the con-
centration of the nanoparticles and the optical path length.
Transmittance decreases with increasing concentration and the path
length. The transmittance does not depend on the size of the nano-
particles when they are small (< 20 nm). However, larger nanoparticles
(> 20 nm) have a significant effect on the transmittance.
3.5. Applications in PV/T system
Fig. 13 and Fig. 14 show the comparison between the performances
of the PV/T system with optical filtration and the standalone PV system
at different nanoparticles concentrations, while Fig. 15 and Fig. 16
show the comparison at different path lengths. They show that, in most

Fig. 8. The transmittance as a function of: (a) ϕ at different path lengths and (b) The path length at different ϕ

9
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Fig. 9. The transmittance as a function of: (a) ϕ at different path lengths and (b) The path length at different ϕ (Comparison between the experimental and correlation
results).

Fig. 10. The solar spectrum.

Table 5
Real refractive indices of water and silver.
Wavelength (um) Water Silver Wavelength (um) Water Silver

nf np nf np

280 1.351162 1.373547428 1400 1.320866 0.116919664

300 1.348904 1.420414046 1500 1.318665 0.131359313
400 1.340226 0.053462111 1600 1.316378 0.146734698
500 1.334915 0.050149438 1700 1.314042 0.163022064
600 1.331838 0.04920953 1800 1.311631 0.180225649
700 1.330112 0.051102197 1900 1.309023 0.198375118
800 1.329074 0.055436289 2000 1.305974 0.217523
900 1.328254 0.061871739 2100 1.302088 0.237742119
1000 1.327348 0.070117 2200 1.296789 0.259123033
1100 1.326184 0.079926476 2300 1.289292 0.281771461
1200 1.324698 0.091097961 2400 1.278575 0.305805728
1300 1.322905 0.103470066 2500 1.263349 0.331354188

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A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Fig. 11. The transmittance (at dnp = 18 nm) as a function of: (a) ϕ at different path lengths and (b) The path length at different ϕ

Fig. 12. The transmittance as a function of the diameter of the nanoparticles at
different concentrations of the nanoparticles with PW = 10 mm.
cases, the overall performance of the PV/T system with optical filtration
is better than that for the standalone PV system. Fig. 13 shows that the
enhancement in the equivalent electrical efficiency decreases with the
increase of the nanoparticles concentration due to blockage of solar
radiation. At high concentration (ɸw = 0.5%), the addition of an optical
filtration to the PV system becomes useless as the performance of the
standalone PV system is better. The break-down of the output energy
from the PV/T system with optical filtration clarifies the effect of the
concentration more clearly as depicted in Fig. 14. Increase of the con-
centration of the nanoparticles results in a reduction in the electrical
output energy and an increase in the thermal output energy, however
the equivalent electrical energy that remains higher than the electrical
output energy from a standalone PV system except at high nanoparticle
concentrations.
Fig. 15 shows that there is no much change in the performance of
the hybrid PV/T system with the change in the path length values from
2 mm to 10 mm. This can be attributed to the similarity in the rate of
decrease and increase in the electrical and thermal output energies
respectively with the increase in the path length as shown in Fig. 16.
To sum up, the overall performance of the PV/T system with optical
filtration is better than the standalone PV system. However, this ad-
vance is limited to low nanoparticles concentration values only.

Fig. 13. Comparison between the efficiency of the PV/T system with optical filtration and the stanalone PV system at different nanoparticles concentrations and
PL = 10 mm.

11
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al. Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 201 (2019) 110054

Fig. 14. Comparison between the output energy of the PV/T system with optical filtration and the stanalone PV system at different nanoparticles concentrations and
PL = 10 mm.

Fig. 15. Comparison between the efficiency of the PV/T system with optical filtration and the stanalone PV system at different path lengths and ɸw = 0.005%.

Fig. 16. Comparison between the output energy of the PV/T system with optical filtration and the stanalone PV system at different path lengths and ɸw = 0.005%.

4. Conclusions and future work
In this study, the effect of the concentration of the nanoparticles and
the optical path length on the transmittance of the water/Ag nanofluid
was studied both experimentally and analytically. The experimental
evaluation was conducted for samples with a concentration of nano-
particles between 0.0005 wt % and 0.05 wt % and at path lengths of
2 mm, 5 mm, and 10 mm for each concentration. An experimental
correlation was, also, developed to relate the transmittance of the
water/Ag nanofluid with the concentration of the nanoparticles and the
optical path length. The stability of the prepared nanofluid samples was
evaluated through visual inspection by allowing to stand for one month
after preparation. The analytical evaluation was conducted for con-
centrations between 0.0001 vol % and 0.01 vol % and path lengths
between 5 mm and 30 mm. The effect of the size of the Ag nanoparticles
on the transmittance of the nanofluid was evaluated analytically as
well.
The water/Ag nanofluid is stable for one month at low concentra-
tions of Ag without the addition of any surfactants. However, at rela-
tively high concentrations of Ag, the nanofluid is unstable. The

12
A.S. Abdelrazik, et al.
transmittance is highly dependent on the concentration of the nano-
particles and the path length. In general, the transmittance decreases
with increasing concentration of the nanoparticles and the path length.
At very low concentrations and short path lengths, the transmittance
remains almost the same. At longer path lengths, the transmittance
becomes more sensitive to the concentration of the nanoparticles, even
at low concentrations.
The size of the nanoparticles affects the transmittance only when
the nanoparticles are relatively large. The transmittance is independent
of the size of the nanoparticles when they are small (< 20 nm).
Studying the effect of both the concentration of the nanoparticles
and the path length on the performance of hybrid PV/T system with
optical filtration, it was found that, usually, the system will show better
overall performance in comparison to the standalone PV system except
at high concentrations (ɸw = 0.5%).
Finally, this work has gone some way towards enhancing the un-
derstanding of the optical behavior of nanofluids under the effect of the
concentration and size of nanoparticles and the length of optical path
and its consequent effect on the performance of the hybrid PV/T system
with optical filtration.
Acknowledgements
The authors appreciate the financial support provided by the
Deanship of Scientific Research (Project no. IN161059), and the Center
of Research Excellence in Renewable Energy (CoRERE) both at King
Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://
doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2019.110054.
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