Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Solar Energy
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Experimental study of solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air collector

drying performance
Decheng Kong a, Yunfeng Wang a, b, *, Ming Li a, b, Vanhkeo Keovisar a, Mengxiao Huang a,
Qiongfen Yu a, b
a
Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
b
Key Laboratory of Advanced Technique & Preparation for Renewable Energy Materials, Ministry of Education, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China

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

Keywords: Solar thermal technology has prospects for the broad application of drying agricultural and associated products.
Solar drying Solar hot air drying technology can effectively solve storage and transportation problems for agricultural and
PV/T associated products. To improve comprehensive solar energy utilization efficiency, in this study a solar hot-air
Air collector
drying system, based on a comprehensive solar photovoltaic/thermal utilization collector, was designed and
Turnip
built. In this system, amorphous silicon solar cell and polysilicon solar cell modules provide thermal and elec­
trical energy to the system during drying. The drying characteristics of turnips and the thermal and electrical
characteristics of the solar photovoltaic/thermal air collector were studied. The results showed that seven direct
current fans at the air entrance and 12 internal circulation fans on both sides of the drying chamber turned on the
solar drying system compared with seven direct current fans at the air drying chamber entrance that turned on
the system, which shortens the turnip drying time by 10 h. The average thermal efficiency, average electrical
efficiency, and comprehensive utilization efficiency of the amorphous silicon photovoltaic/thermal collector are
46.8%, 5.7% and 54.4%, respectively. The average thermal efficiency, average electrical efficiency, and
comprehensive utilization efficiency of the polysilicon photovoltaic/thermal collector are 40.7%, 6.8% and
55.4%, respectively.

depends on the temperature and flow rate of hot air. The airflow rate
1. Introduction across the solar collector can be controlled using a fan or a blower
(Ghatrehsamani and Zomorodian, 2012). In other words, a solar drying
Solar energy is clean and renewable (Wang et al., 2018) and has device usually needs an efficient solar collector to provide hot air and a
great potential for many low-temperature applications, including agri­ fan or blower to circulate the hot air. However, the fans or blowers are
cultural product drying (Badaoui et al., 2019). Drying agricultural typically powered by commercial power or grid-connected electricity,
products is still accomplished by using traditional open sun drying in which increases the dryer operating costs. In many rural locations,
most rural areas of China, such as drying grapes in the Xinjiang Province operating costs for this type of dryer are too high for use by small-scale
(Xie et al., 2018) and drying peanuts in the Henan Province, Shandong farming operations. To address this issue, researchers have developed
Province and other areas where peanuts are grown (Qu et al., 2020; PV-assisted solar dryers. A PV-assisted solar drying system was devel­
Zhou et al., 2019). Additionally, the Panax notoginseng, a traditional oped to dry tomato slices (Samimi-Akhijahani and Arabhosseini, 2018).
Chinese medicine, still uses open sun drying in the Yunnan Province A PV panel was used to power the fans, forcing ambient air into the solar
(Guo et al., 2014; Li et al., 2017). Although open sun drying is simple, air collector and rotating the solar collector using the sun-tracking
the long drying periods, poor drying quality and high crop losses caused control unit. Janjai et al. (2009) designed a PV-ventilated solar green­
by inadequate drying and other factors inherently limit open sun drying house dryer to dry peeled longan and banana, and three fans were
(Yassen and Al-Kayiem, 2016). Therefore, various types of drying powered by a 50 W PV module for ventilating the dryer. During the last
equipment have been developed to improve drying efficiency and two decades, a significant effort has been made to investigate and
product quality (Takougnadi and Boroze, 2020). develop solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) technology, which combines
For a solar drying device or system, the drying period mainly a photovoltaic module with a solar thermal collector to simultaneously

* Corresponding author at: Solar Energy Research Institute, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China.
E-mail address: [email protected] (Y. Wang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.08.067
Received 27 April 2020; Received in revised form 7 August 2020; Accepted 23 August 2020
Available online 1 September 2020
0038-092X/© 2020 International Solar Energy Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Nomenclature Mt+△t moisture content at t+△t (kg water/kg dry matter)

P output power (W)
Ac area of collectors (m2) Q useful heat (W)
Apv area of PV cells (m2) Tin inlet air temperature (◦ C)
cap specific heat of air at constant pressure (J⋅kg− 1⋅◦ C -1) Tout outlet air temperature (◦ C)
DR drying rate (kg water/kg dry matter⋅h− 1) U output voltage (V)
G solar radiation on the plane of the PV/T air collectors ξ cell coverage rate
(W⋅m− 2) ηth instantaneous thermal efficiency
H solar radiation throughout the day (MJ⋅m− 2) ηpv instantaneous electrical efficiency
I output current (A) ηpower power generation efficiency
mt mass of sample at any time (kg) ηtotal comprehensive utilization efficiency
md mass of the dried product (kg) ηth all-day thermal efficiency
ṁ air mass flow rate (kg⋅s− 1) ηpv all-day electrical efficiency
M moisture content (kg water/kg dry matter)
Mt moisture content at t (kg water/kg dry matter)

produce electricity and heat (Kasaeian et al., 2018). Solar PV/T tech­ Most of the drying chambers studied were simple rectangular boxes
nology, which can significantly improve comprehensive solar energy with several trays. Al-Neama and Farkas (2019) dried apple slices using
utilization efficiency, has subsequently been applied to solar drying. A a solar dryer with a drying chamber made from 50 × 50 × 50 cm
solar PV/T air collector can collect solar radiant energy and convert it polystyrene blocks. The chamber was connected to the solar collector by
into thermal energy to provide sufficient heat for drying and electrical a small duct, so the heated air exiting the collector entered the drying
energy for operating the fans (Li et al., 2015b, 2014). chamber with the apple slices. Ziaforoughi and Eshafani (2016) pro­
Some researchers have studied solar PV/T collector drying systems. posed a dry 60 × 70 × 80 cm wood cabinet for drying potato slices and
Assoa et al. (2017) proposed a building-integrated solar PV/T hybrid installed a black-coloured chimney on the upper part of the dryer cab­
drying system. After study of the experimental parameters to optimize inet to reinforce the drying airflow. Later, Dorouzi et al. (2018)
the system’s basic configuration, the system thermal efficiency and improved the dryer, replacing the chimney with a 12-V, DC-powered
electrical efficiency reached 27.7% and 13%, respectively, after stiff­ blower to circulate the heated air through the dryer. There are many
eners were added to the absorber backside. The system was then inte­ other similar dryers (Lingayat et al., 2020), but most drying chambers or
grated into a roof for fodder drying. cabinets of this type have nonuniform temperature distribution between
Additionally, Poonia et al. (2018) designed a PV/T hybrid solar dryer the upper and lower trays or layers—or even for different positions
for the drying of ber fruit. The drying kinetics of ber fruit and the eco­ within the same layer. This drawback causes reduced product quality
nomic evaluation of the fabricated hybrid PV/T solar dryer were stud­ and low drying efficiency. Fan forced convection and set up the guide
ied. The moisture content of ber fruit was reduced to 20% in plate are used to maintain uniform temperature in the current dryers. In
approximately 22 h with a load of 18 kg. addition to fan forced, internal circulation fan is turned on in the dryer
Fterich et al. (2018) designed a hybrid-mode, forced-convection about this work. Eliminating the hot airflow dead zone and enhancing
solar PV/T air collector drying system. Heat exchange occurred on both hot air convection in the drying chamber will greatly improve dryer
sides of the PV/T collector panel to help cool the photovoltaic cell and to efficiency.
transfer the heat energy to the drying chamber so that additional energy The objective of the present work is to propose a new solar drying
could be provided to increase the drying temperature and further enhancement. The solar drying system was designed and built to inte­
shorten the drying time. grate with PV/T air collectors that can provide all of the electric and
Barnwal and Tiwari (2008) proposed a hybrid PV/T greenhouse thermal energy needed for the drying procedure. Two groups of DC fans
dryer and conducted the experimental study for grape drying. They powered by the PV/T collectors were installed on both sides of the
evaluated the heat and mass transfer of the PV/T greenhouse drying interior of the drying chamber to strengthen the hot air movement and
system and found the multilinear expression was the best forced con­ to eliminate the stagnant hot airflow zones while maintaining uniform
vection mode for the prediction of moisture evaporation. chamber temperature. The performance enhancement of the new drying
Again, Tiwari and Tiwari (2016) developed the thermal model on the chamber was investigated using turnips as drying samples with two
hybrid PV/T greenhouse solar dryer and then experimentally validated different operational modes, and the drying characteristics of turnips
the overall thermal energy and exergy. Furthermore, the Tiwari team were investigated as well. Additionally, the thermal and electrical
developed a solar dryer integrated with several partially covered characteristics of the two solar PV/T collectors were compared and
photovoltaic thermal (N-PV/T) solar air collectors, which connected in a studied experimentally.
series; the number of the series can be changed as needed (Tiwari and
Tiwari, 2017). When the number of air collectors varied from 1 to 5, the 2. System description
equivalent thermal energy, equivalent thermal efficiency, and equiva­
lent exergy efficiency changed from 3.24 to 10.57 kWh/day, 61.56 to This study is focused on a forced convection solar drying system,
42.22% and 28.96 to 19.11%, respectively. which consists of solar PV/T air collectors, a drying chamber, DC fans
Dorouzi et al. (2018) designed a liquid desiccant-assisted solar dryer, and control units. The solar drying system, shown in Fig. 1, is located at
and the PV/T solar collector was used to supply the required electrical Yunnan Normal University, Kunming and was tested on several days.
energy and regenerate the desiccant for drying tomato slices. The The drying system consists of two main parts: the two solar PV/T air
designed dryer supplied sufficient off-grid electricity for drying at collectors and the stainless steel drying chamber with the DC fans.
60–65 ◦ C. In addition to an efficient solar collector, another important
influencing factor in solar dryer performance is the drying chamber. 2.1. Solar PV/T air collectors
However, most studies focus on improving the solar collector, and
drying chamber optimization is not considered. To investigate the PV/T air collector performance, two types of solar

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Fig. 1. (a) Schematic diagram of the solar drying device with PV/T air collector, and (b) overall view of the solar drying device with PV/T air collector.

cells were used in the two solar PV/T air collectors; one used amorphous PV/T air collectors are oriented facing south and tilted at 30◦ to the
silicon thin-film solar cells and the other used polycrystalline silicon horizontal. A schematic view and photograph of the solar PV/T air
solar cells. Moreover, the two solar PV/T air collectors are connected in collectors are shown in Fig. 2, and the specifications of the two PV/T air
parallel with the same inlet air temperature to analyze the heat and collectors are listed in Table 1.
electrical characteristic of the two PV/T collectors. The collectors are
mainly composed of a glass cover, solar cells (the polycrystalline silicon 2.2. Solar drying system
cells or the amorphous silicon thin-film cells), an absorber plate, an
insulation layer, and an air channel with fins. The glass covers are Fig. 3 shows the schematic diagram of the drying chamber, which is
positioned 30 mm from the solar cells, according to the literature rec­ mainly composed of DC fans, two air outlets, a shelf and three trays. The
ommendations (Deng et al., 2012), and the solar cells are packaged and drying chamber is made of 304 stainless steel with a 60-mm poly­
attached to the heat absorption plate. Several fins are welded to the urethane insulating cotton shell to reduce heat loss. The dimensions of
bottom of the absorber plate with an air channel height of 30 mm. Fresh the drying chamber are 1.05 × 1.05 × 1.05 m. The chamber is connected
air enters the collector from an inlet at the bottom of the collector. Then, to the two solar PV/T air collectors via the duct with seven DC fans at the
the air moves across the fins and is heated as it moves across the drying chamber air entrance. Then, the heated air from the collectors
absorber plate fins. The hot air then flows into the drying chamber. enters the chamber with a high temperature and low humidity. Twelve
Seven 6-W DC fans are installed at the collectors’ hot air outlet to drive 6-W DC fans are installed on both sides of the inside of the drying
the hot air from the solar PV/T air collector into the drying chamber. chamber (six DC fans on each side) to strengthen the hot air movement
The electricity generated by the polysilicon and amorphous silicon thin- and to eliminate the stagnant hot airflow zones while maintaining uni­
film solar cells drives the DC fans using a charge and discharge form temperature and humidity in the chamber. All of the electric en­
controller, and the excess electricity is stored in batteries. The two solar ergy required for the drying process is supplied by PV cells in the PV/T

32 cm 32 cm 32 cm
v v
T T T T
30 cm 40 cm 60 cm 40 cm 30 cm
Glass cover
PVcell

Absorberplate

Flow channel

Insolation

Polycrystalline silicon Amorphous silicon solar

solar PV/T air collector PV/T air collector

(a) (b)
Fig. 2. (a) Structural diagram of solar PV/T air collector, and (b) photograph of the solar PV/T air collectors.

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Table 1 during August and September 2019. Table 2 describes some of the
Specifications of the two solar PV/T air collectors. experimental instruments utilized for data collection.
Items Parameter Amorphous Polycrystalline The solar radiation is measured using a pyranometer (model: TBQ-2,
silicon collector silicon collector accuracy ± 2%) placed on the PV/T air collectors to measure the normal
PV cell Effective area/m2 0.936 1.52 radiation on the surface of the collectors. Thermocouples (model: type T,
Nominal power/W 130 180 accuracy ± 0.2 ◦ C) are used to measure the ambient temperature, solar
Open circuit 101.6 140 cell temperature, collector outlet air temperature and the drying
voltage/V chamber temperature. The relative humidity of the ambient air and the
Short circuit 1.76 1.52
current/A
air in the drying chamber was measured using hygrometers (model:
Voltage at maximum 81.8 110 TH2OR, accuracy ± 2%RH). A hot wire anemometer (model: SUMMIT-
power/V 565, accuracy ± 5%) was used to monitor the air speeds at the drying
Current at maximum 1.59 1.07 chamber inlet and outlet. The output voltage and current of the PV cells
power/A
were also measured. All the tested signals were recorded every 10 min
Glass cover Area/m2 1.85 1.85
Transmittance 0.92 0.92 by a data logger (HIOKI, model: LR8401-21).
Absorber Collector area/m2 1.85 1.85
plate 3.3. Performance analysis
Absorptivity 0.9 0.9
Thickness/mm 0.4 0.4
Airflow Geometric size/cm 196 × 96 × 2.7 196 × 96 × 2.7 3.3.1. Moisture content and drying rate
channel The moisture content and drying rate are important indices to
Fin pitch 23 23 evaluate the material drying characteristics. The moisture content (M) of
Insulation Thickness/cm 5 5 the sample at any time is determined using Eq. (1) (EL Khadraoui et al.,
2019):
M = (mt − md )/md , (1)

T T where mt and md are, respectively, the mass of the sample at any time,
T T
T
T and the mass of the dried product (kg).
The drying rate (DR) during the experiments is defined as (EL Kha­
T
Air outlet T T T draoui et al., 2019):

T T T
DR = dM/dt = (Mt − Mt+Δt )/Δt, (2)
T

where Mt and Mt+Δt are the moisture content at a time t and t+△t (kg
Direct current fans water/kg dry matter), respectively.
Material shelf
Material tray
3.3.2. Performance evaluation of solar PV/T air collectors
Fig. 3. Structural diagram of the drying chamber. The performance of solar PV/T air collectors is usually evaluated by
useful heat, thermal efficiency, power output and electrical efficiency.
collectors. The three trays made of stainless-steel screen, with uniformly The useful heat is determined by Eq. (3):
sized pores to facilitate the upward flow of hot air, are placed in the Q = ṁcap (Tout − Tin ), (3)
drying chamber, 25 cm apart.
where ṁ is the air mass flow rate (kg⋅s− 1), cap is the specific heat of air at
3. Materials and methods constant pressure (J⋅kg− 1⋅◦ C− 1) and Tin and Tout are the air temperatures
at the inlet and outlet (◦ C), respectively.
3.1. Sample preparation Eq. (4) is used to calculate the instantaneous thermal efficiency of
solar PV/T air collectors (Cabezas-g et al., 2017):
The fresh turnips were purchased from a local market and were
ηth = ṁcap (Tout − Tin )/GAc , (4)
nearly uniform in size and shape, with an average moisture content of
over 17.38 kg water/kg dry matter (Huang et al., 2017). They were where G is the solar radiation on the plane of the PV/T air collectors
washed, peeled and sliced into 3-mm thick rounds. Then, 1.5 kg were (W⋅m− 2) and Ac is the area of the collectors (m2).
weighed and spread over each tray in a single layer. The all-day thermal efficiency is expressed as
[∑ ]/
ηth = ṁcap (Tout − Tin ) HAc , (5)
3.2. Experimental procedure

To investigate the enhanced convection using DC fans in the drying

chamber, two drying operation modes were contrasted. In mode 1, only
Table 2
the seven DC fans at the air entrance of the drying chamber were turned Instrument accuracy and range.
on. In mode 2, the 12 internal circulation fans on both sides of the drying
Instrument Brand and model Range Accuracy
chamber were also turned on. During the drying procedure, the 0.25 kg
samples were weighed and recorded each hour. After weighing, the Hygrometer QL-100A 0.0001–120 g 0.001%
Electronic balance HY-809B 0–30 kg ±5 g
samples were sent back to the dryer until the sample mass of each layer
Thermocouple Type T − 200 ◦ C to 300 ◦ C ±0.2 ◦ C
stabilized, and the drying process was stopped. At the end of the drying Humidity sensors TH2OR 0–100% RH ±2% RH
process, each sample was weighed and its moisture content determined Anemometer SUMMIT-56 0.2–20 m/s ±5%
using a moisture meter. To ensure the correctness and reliability of the Date logger LR8401-21 – –
experimental results, the experiments were conducted on clear days, Pyranometer TBQ-2 0–2000 W/m2 2%
DC current sensors WBI342U05-S 0–2 A
with sunshine, for 9 h per day (from 9:00 to 18:00) and were replicated
±0.2%

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where H is the solar radiation throughout the day (MJ⋅m− 2). the drying processes.
The output power of the PV/T air collectors is calculated by Fig. 4(a) shows that the moisture content decreased from 24.641 (kg
(Prommas et al., 2019): water/kg dry matter) to 0.196 (kg water/kg dry matter) in approxi­
mately 22 h with mode 1. However, it took approximately 12 h to reduce
P = UI, (6)
the moisture content from 24 (kg water/kg dry matter) to 0.133 (kg
where U and I are the output voltage (V) and current (A) of the PV cells, water/kg dry matter) with mode 2, a remarkable reduction of 45.4%
respectively. compared with mode 1. It took approximately 22 h and 11 h to decrease
The instantaneous electrical efficiency and all-day electrical effi­ the moisture content from 24 (kg water/kg dry matter) to 0.2 (kg water/
ciency are calculated by the following equations, respectively: kg dry matter) with mode 1 and mode 2, respectively. The electric power
consumed by mode 1 and mode 2 was 0.92 kWh and 1.25 kWh during
ηpv = UI/GApv , (7) the whole drying period; furthermore, it was 0.042 kW and 0.114 kW
per hour for mode 1 and 2, respectively. The power consumption of
ηpv = (ΣUI)/HApv , (8) mode 2 was higher. However, if the internal circulation fans were
decreased in number to six, the power consumption of mode 2 should
where Apv is the area of the PV cells (m2). have been approximately 0.89 kWh with a drying period of 11 h.
Because the electric energy is a higher-grade energy than the thermal Moreover, the power consumption for mode 1 and 2 should have been
energy, to fairly evaluate the performance of the solar collectors, the close (0.92 kWh and 0.89 kWh) to decrease the moisture content from
energy should be expressed with a unified standard. Its comprehensive 24 (kg water/kg dry matter) to 0.2 (kg water/kg dry matter), respec­
solar energy utilization efficiency is estimated as follows (Guo et al., tively. In this paper, the number of internal fans is not optimized, which
2015; Li et al., 2015a): means that reducing the number of fans is likely to have the same or
ηtotal = ηth + ξηpv /ηpower , (9) similar effect. Additionally, the power consumed by the internal fans can
be provided completely by the PV/T collectors on a clear day because
where ξ is the PV cell coverage ratio in the collector, given as ξ = the nominal power is 130 W and 180 W for the amorphous silicon and
Apv /Ac , and ηpower is the power generation efficiency of a conventional polycrystalline silicon collectors, respectively.
The temperature inside the drying chamber and the airflow rate on
thermal power plant, generally taken as 38% (Guo et al., 2015).
the material surface are significant parameters for characterizing dryer
performance. The moisture on the surface of materials can be evapo­
3.4. Uncertainty analysis rated quickly with a higher temperature and faster airflow rate, resulting
in a quicker drying process (Usub et al., 2008). The drying rate of turnips
The uncertainties and errors of the experimental results are associ­ during the drying periods was calculated by Eq. (2), and its variation
ated with the choice of instruments, ambient conditions, calibration, with drying time is given in Fig. 4(b), which clearly indicates that the
probe positional errors, and observation mode (Arun et al., 2019). An drying rate of mode 2 is much higher than that of mode 1 on the first day.
uncertainty analysis in this work was conducted based on the presented The maximum value of the drying rate difference was 1.75 (kg water/kg
method. The total uncertainty analysis is computed using the following dry matter⋅h− 1) during the first day. Additionally, Fig. 4(b) shows that
equation (Aktaş et al., 2019). the solar drying of turnips has three distinct periods: an increasing rate
[( )2 ( )2 ( )2 ]1/2 period, a constant-rate drying period and a decreasing rate period.
wR =
∂R
w1 +
∂R
w2 + ⋅⋅⋅ +
∂R
wn , (10) Fig. 4(b) shows the drying rate in modes 1 and 2 decreased from 9:00
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂xn to 10:00 and 9:00 to 11:00 on the first day. This is because the drying
process had just begun. The drying chamber and materials were in the
where R is a specified function of x1, x2…xn individual variables, and w1, preheating phase, in which the drying system could not provide enough
w2…wn are the uncertainties of the individual variables. heat to dry the turnips. The outlet temperature of the solar collectors and
In the PV/T air collector solar drying system, the sample mass, solar the temperature inside the drying chamber increased with the increase
radiation, ambient temperature, solar cell temperature, collector outlet of solar radiation from 10:00 to 12:00 with mode 1. Therefore, the rate
air temperature, drying chamber temperature, relative humidity, air of moisture diffusion from the interior of the turnips to the surface and
speeds and output voltage and current of the PV cells are measured by the rate of evaporation of surface moisture also increased. The drying
suitable devices, as described previously. In this paper, the overall un­ chamber temperature decreased from 11:00 to 12:00 with mode 2, while
certainties are associated with the measurements of the mass loss, the the drying rate increased because there was more moisture in the turnips
temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, air speeds and output at the beginning of the drying process. The maximum drying rate was 3
current and voltage, which were ±5 g, ±0.2 ◦ C, 2%, ±2%, ±5%, ±0.2% (kg water/kg dry matter⋅h− 1) for mode 1 but 3.6 (kg water/kg dry
and ±0.1%, respectively. The total uncertainties for the computed pa­ matter⋅h− 1) for mode 2 at 12:00. For mode 1, the drying rate variation
rameters of moisture content, air mass flow rate, collector thermal ef­ on the second day had similar trends as the first day, but the drying rate
ficiency, and power output are approximately 0.017, 0.001, 0.02 and on the third day decreased significantly because the sample moisture
0.055, respectively. had stabilized and the drying process was almost complete. However, for
mode 2, the drying rate on the second day was lower than that of mode 1
4. Results and discussion because of the reduced sample moisture content, resulting in a relatively
slow dehydration process.
4.1. Drying characteristics of turnips The inlet and outlet air temperatures of the solar PV/T collectors,
their temperature difference, and the variation of solar radiation for
The solar drying of turnips with mode 1 (only the seven DC fans at mode 1 are shown in Fig. 5. The solar radiation ranged from 91 W/m2 to
the air entrance of the drying chamber are turned on) and mode 2 (the 1375 W/m2 during the day. The solar radiation reached a maximum at
seven DC fans at the air entrance and the additional 12 internal circu­ 12:00 and a minimum at 18:00 on the first and second days. However,
lation fans on both sides of the drying chamber are turned on) was because of cloud cover, the solar radiation reached a maximum at 13:00
conducted under typical weather conditions. The moisture content and was lower during the morning hours on the third day. The maximum
variation of the turnips during the drying periods with mode 1 and 2 are outlet air temperature of the PV/T air collectors was 51.0 ◦ C, and the
shown in Fig. 4(a), and Fig. 4(b) presents the drying rate variation. The maximum difference between the inlet and outlet temperatures was
interruption of lines in Fig. 4 represents the nighttime periods without 28.8 ◦ C, because of the decrease in solar radiation during the day.

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First day 4.0 First day

24 Mode 1
3.5
Mode 2
M o isture con tent (k g w ater/kg d ry m atter)

D rying rate (kg w ater/kg dry m atter·h -1 )

Mode 1 3.0
20
Mode 2
2.5
16
2.0 Second day
12 Second day 1.5

8 1.0

0.5 Third day

4 Third day
0.0
0
-0.5

11:00

15:00

09:00
11:00

17:00
10:00
12:00
13:00
15:00
13:00

17:00
09:00
1 1:0 0

1 5:0 0

0 9:0 0
1 1:0 0

17 :00
1 0:0 0
1 2:0 0
13 :00
15 :00
13:0 0

17:0 0
09:00

Time (HH:MM) Time (HH:MM)

(a) (b)
Fig. 4. (a) The moisture content variation during drying periods for modes 1 and 2, and (b) drying rate variation during the same periods for modes 1 and 2.

Although the temperature was low during the day, it was not an between the upper and the lower layer was approximately 4 ◦ C. This is
important factor for the experiment. This is because the moisture con­ because the hot air entered the drying chamber from the bottom and the
tent of samples was very low and close to the drying requirement by the drying turnips on the lower layer first absorbed the heat energy from the
end of the second day. The inlet air temperature of the PV/T collectors hot air. Then, the hot air rose successively through the middle and the
varied between 18.6 ◦ C and 28.5 ◦ C. The outlet air temperature variation upper layers, transferring its heat to the turnips in these layers for
of the PV/T air collectors had basically followed the same trend as the heating and water evaporation. The temperature decreased gradually.
variation in solar radiation during the drying procedure. The maximum However, on the second and third days, because the turnip moisture
outlet air temperature of the PV/T air collectors was 71.1 ◦ C, and the content was lower than on the first day, less heat was needed to heat the
maximum difference between the inlet and outlet temperatures was turnips, and the temperature of each layer was approximately the same.
46.1 ◦ C during the first day. The average outlet temperatures for the Although the drying chamber temperature mainly depends on the
three days were 54.1 ◦ C, 47.9 ◦ C and 35.8 ◦ C, respectively. solar radiation during drying (Karthikeyan and Murugavelh, 2018), the
Fig. 6 shows the inlet and outlet air temperatures of the solar PV/T drying material’s moisture content is also a significant factor that affects
collectors, their temperature difference, and the variation of solar ra­ drying temperature. As shown in Fig. 8, the amount of solar radiation on
diation for mode 2. The solar radiation ranged from 140 W/m2 to 1152 the first and second days was approximately the same, with the highest
W/m2 during the drying experiments. The solar radiation reached a solar irradiation values of approximately 1200 W/m2 at noon, but the
maximum at noon and a minimum during the evening on the first and highest temperature in the drying chamber was very different. The
second days. The inlet air temperature of the PV/T collectors varied highest temperature in the drying chamber was 50.14 ◦ C on the first day,
between 22.1 ◦ C and 31.1 ◦ C. The maximum outlet air temperature and corresponding to the maximum solar irradiance, whereas the highest
the temperature difference between the inlet and outlet of the PV/T air temperature reached 65.78 ◦ C on the second day. This is because there
collectors were 71.0 ◦ C and 43.4 ◦ C, respectively. The average outlet was less moisture in the turnips, i.e., a decrease in the total turnip mass,
temperatures for the two days were 52.9 ◦ C and 49.7 ◦ C, respectively. so the same amount of thermal energy raised the turnips to a higher
In Figs. 5 and 6 the temperature difference between the inlet and temperature on the second day.
outlet of mode 1 was higher than that of mode 2 because of the higher Additionally, in Figs. 7 and 8, the temperature of each layer in the
solar radiation and the lower inlet temperature of mode 1. However, for drying chamber with mode 2 was approximately the same during the
both operation modes, the maximum outlet air temperatures of solar entire drying process, which was quite different from the temperature
PV/T collectors were higher than 70 ◦ C. trend of mode 1. For mode 1, the temperature of the lower layer was the
The variation of solar radiation and each layer’s temperature during highest, and the temperature of the upper layer was the lowest. The
the drying periods for mode 1 is presented in Fig. 7. On the first day, the maximum temperature difference between the upper and the lower
temperature in the three drying chamber layers ranged from 22.80 ◦ C ~ layer was approximately 4 ◦ C. Obviously, for mode 2, the additional 12
48.20 ◦ C, 23.24 ◦ C ~ 50.87 ◦ C and 24.51 ◦ C ~ 52.26 ◦ C, respectively. On internal circulation fans on both sides of the drying chamber played a
the second day, the maximum temperature for the three layers increased large role in enhancing the convective heat transfer and in improving
to 56.65 ◦ C, 56.41 ◦ C and 56.59 ◦ C, respectively. However, the the air circulation. The stagnant hot airflow zones of the upper layer
maximum temperature in each layer on the third day was lower, with a were effectively eliminated. The drying rate was also improved because
maximum of 34.37 ◦ C on the bottom layer at noon on the third day. the moisture on the surface of the material was more easily and rapidly
Obviously, the temperature of each layer was different on the first day. carried away.
The temperature of the lower layer was the highest, and the temperature It is difficult to maintain identical operating conditions for both
of the upper layer was the lowest. The maximum temperature difference modes under different weather conditions, especially for the ambient

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Temperature difference between inlet and outlet

Outlet air temperature of collectors
75 Solar radiation 1400 75 Inlet air temperature of collectors 1400
70 70
65 1200 65 1200
Solar radiation
60 60

Solar radiation (W ·m -2 )
55 55 1000
1000

Solar radiation (W ·m -2 )
50 50

Temperature (°C)
Temperature (°C)

45 45
800 800
40 40
35 35
600 600
30 30
25 25
20 400 20 400
15 Temperature difference between inlet and outlet 15
10 Outlet air temperature of collectors 200 10 200
5 Inlet air temperature of collectors 5
0 0 0 0

08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00
08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

Time (HH:MM) 19:00 Time (HH:MM)

(a) (b)

Temperature difference between inlet and outlet

75 1400
Outlet air temperature of collectors
70
Inlet air temperature of collectors
65 1200
60
55
Solar radiation
1000
Solar radiation (W ·m -2 )

50
T em perature (°C )

45
800
40
35
600
30
25
20 400
15
10 200
5
0 0
14:00
10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

Time (HH:MM)

(c)
Fig. 5. The solar radiation and temperature variation during the drying periods for mode 1. (a) First day, (b) second day and (c) third day.

temperature and solar radiation. The average solar radiation and turnips (Seerangurayar et al., 2019). The turnips dried in mode 1 had
average inlet air temperatures were 732 W/m2 and 681 W/m2 and oxidized and turned black. In contrast, the drying time was shorter in
25.21 ◦ C and 24.36 ◦ C with mode 1 during the first two days, whereas, mode 2, so their degree of oxidation was reduced, and the colour and
with mode 2, although the average solar radiation was lower (662 W/m2 shape were nearly intact. The DC fans installed in the drying chamber
and 543 W/m2) than that of mode 1, the average inlet temperatures effectively enhanced the heat transfer of the moist air while maintaining
were higher (27.31 ◦ C and 24.48 ◦ C) than that of mode 1 during the first uniform chamber temperature and significantly improving dryer
two days of the drying process. However, there was no obvious effect efficiency.
from the solar radiation and inlet temperature on the testing and eval­
uation. The weather conditions were different for modes 1 and 2, most
notably on the cloudy third day when the drying system operated with 4.2. Thermal and electrical analysis of two solar PV/T air collectors
mode 1. However, the weather was not an important factor because the
drying process was nearly complete, and the moisture content had been The thermal and electrical characteristics of the PV/T air collectors
reduced to 0.31 (kg water/kg dry matter) by the end of the second day. were analysed experimentally and compared. The air mass flow rate was
The drying time has a large influence on the quality of the dried a constant at 0.02 kg⋅s− 1. The nominal power of the amorphous silicon
PV module was 130 W with a 0.506 cell coverage rate on the heat

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Temperature difference between inlet and outlet Temperature difference between inlet and outlet
Outlet air temperature of collectors Outlet air temperature of collectors
75 1400
Inlet air temperature of collectors 75 Inlet air temperature of collectors 1400
70
70
65 1200
65 1200
60
60
55 1000 55

Solar radiation (W ·m -2 )
50 1000

Solar radiation (W ·m -2 )
50
Tem perature (°C )

45

Tem perature (°C)

800 45
40 800
40
35
600 35
30 600
30
25 25
20 400 400
20
15 15
10 200 200
10 Solar radiation
5 Solar radiation
5
0 0 0 0
08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00
08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00
Time (HH:MM) Time (HH:MM)
(a) (b)
Fig. 6. The solar radiation and temperature variation during the drying periods for mode 2. (a) First day, and (b) second day.

absorbing plate. For the polycrystalline silicon PV module, the nominal Fig. 10 shows that the thermal efficiency of the amorphous silicon
power and cell coverage rate were 180 W and 0.822, respectively. collector was higher than that of the polycrystalline silicon collector.
The variation of the outlet air temperature of the two PV/T collectors For the solar collector integrated with the amorphous silicon solar
is shown in Fig. 9. The inlet air temperature for the two PV/T collectors cells, the thermal efficiency increased from 35.3% to 40.4% as the outlet
(amorphous silicon solar cells and polycrystalline silicon solar cells) was air temperature increased between 10:00 and 10:30. Although the solar
the same (i.e., the ambient temperature, which fluctuated slightly be­ radiation and outlet air temperature increased between 10:30 and
tween 23.6 ◦ C and 31.4 ◦ C, with an average temperature of 27.2 ◦ C). 11:00, the thermal efficiency decreased from 40.4% to 38.6% because
Fig. 9 shows that the outlet temperature of the amorphous silicon PV/T the solar radiation increase was faster than the outlet air temperature
collector was always higher than the outlet air temperature of the increase. The thermal efficiency increased with the increasing outlet air
polycrystalline silicon PV/T collector during the experiment, and their temperature, reaching 51.9% at 13:30, when the outlet temperature was
maximum temperature difference was 5.84 ◦ C. This is because the cell 75.56 ◦ C. Subsequently, the thermal efficiency increased between 14:00
coverage rate in the amorphous silicon solar cells collector is lower than and 15:00 because of a slower decline in the outlet air temperature, and
that of the polycrystalline silicon solar cells. Although the poly­ the thermal efficiency reached a maximum of 55.3% at 15:00 when the
crystalline silicon solar cells have a higher absorptivity of sunlight than outlet temperature was 68.40 ◦ C.
the amorphous silicon solar cells, the cell coverage rate for the heat The thermal efficiency variation for the polycrystalline silicon col­
absorbing plate of amorphous silicon collector was much smaller than lector was similar to that of the amorphous silicon collector. The mini­
that of the polycrystalline silicon collector. The outlet air temperature of mum value of thermal efficiency was 30.1% at the beginning of the
the PV/T collectors can be improved by appropriately reducing the solar experiment and increased gradually to 35.2% at 10:30. The thermal
cell coverage rate. Furthermore, the heat absorbing plate’s sunlight efficiency reached a maximum value of 47.4% at 15:00. The average
absorptivity is higher than that of any solar cells. The outlet air tem­ thermal efficiencies of the amorphous silicon and the polycrystalline
perature of the amorphous silicon collector increased from 46.26 ◦ C to silicon PV/T collectors were 46.8% and 40.7%, respectively. Moreover,
75.14 ◦ C with an increase in solar radiation between 10:00 and 13:00, the all-day thermal efficiency of the amorphous silicon and poly­
while the outlet temperature of the polycrystalline silicon collector crystalline silicon PV/T collectors was calculated according to Eq. (5) as
increased from 42.92 ◦ C to 69.60 ◦ C. The outlet air temperature of the 48.9% and 42.9%, respectively.
amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon collectors reached It is noteworthy that although the solar radiation decreased from
maximum values of 75.56 ◦ C and 69.72 ◦ C at 13:30, respectively. Sub­ 903 W/m2 to 739 W/m2 between 14:00 and 15:00, the outlet air tem­
sequently, although the solar radiation decreased, the outlet air tem­ perature of the two PV/T collectors decreased slightly, for the amor­
perature of the two PV/T collectors decreased slightly because the outlet phous silicon PV/T air collector, the outlet temperature just reduced
air temperature is influenced by the collectors’ heat capacity. The outlet from 72.58 ◦ C to 68.40 ◦ C. The reason is that the output air temperature
air temperature of the amorphous silicon collector decreased from of the PV/T collector was affected by the collectors’ heat capacity.
75.56 ◦ C to 68.40 ◦ C as the solar radiation decreased between 13:30 and Moreover, the thermal efficiency was calculated according to Eq. (4), the
15:00, and the outlet air temperature of the polycrystalline silicon col­ solar radiation as the denominator dropped sharply while the temper­
lector also decreased from 69.97 ◦ C to 63.07 ◦ C. The average outlet air ature difference between inlet and outlet as a numerator decreased
temperatures for the two PV/T collectors were 66.33 ◦ C and 61.40 ◦ C, slightly because of the influence of heat capacity. Understandably, when
respectively, during the experiment. Moreover, the average temperature solar radiation decreased, the thermal efficiency still kept increasing as
differences between the collector inlet and outlet were 39.09 ◦ C and shown in Fig. 10.
34.20 ◦ C, respectively. Obviously, the collector integrated with the Fig. 11 shows the variation in electrical efficiency. The electrical
amorphous silicon PV module received more heat energy from solar efficiency of the amorphous silicon collector decreased slightly, from
radiation. Fig. 10 shows the thermal efficiency of the two PV/T 5.6% to 5.2%, with an increasing outlet air temperature between 10:00
collectors. and 12:30, and fell to a minimum of 5.2% when the outlet air

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Upper layer Solar radiation

Upper layer Solar radiation
65 Middle layer 1400 65 1400
Middle layer
Lower layer
60 60 Lower layer
1200 1200
55 55
1000 1000

Solar radiation (W·m -2 )

50 50

Solar radiation (W·m-2 )

Temperature (°C)

Temperature (°C)
45 800 45 800

40 40 600
600

35 35
400 400
30 30

200 200
25 25

20 0 20 0

08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00
08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

Time (HH:MM) 19:00 Time (HH:MM)

(a) (b)

65 Upper layer Solar radiation 1400

Middle layer
60
Lower layer 1200
55
1000
50
Solar radiation (W·m -2 )
Temperature (°C)

45 800

40 600

35
400
30
200
25

20 0
10:00

10:30

11:00

11:30

12:00

12:30

13:00

13:30

14:00

Time (HH:MM)

(c)
Fig. 7. The solar radiation and each layer’s temperature variation during the drying periods for mode 1. (a) First day, (b) second day and (c) third day.

temperature was 72.33 ◦ C. The electrical efficiency increased to 5.8% at collector was 9.1%, with a minimum outlet air temperature of 42.92 ◦ C
13:30 while the outlet air temperature reached a maximum and the solar and a minimum solar radiation of 694 W/m2 at the beginning of the
radiation began to decrease. The output power was not substantially experiment. This shows that the electrical efficiency of this type of solar
affected by solar radiation because the outlet air temperature was module is greatly influenced by temperature. The electrical efficiency
influenced by the collectors’ heat capacity. The outlet air temperature of gradually decreased from 9.1% to 5.3% with the increase in outlet air
the PV/T collector did not decrease rapidly when the solar radiation temperature and fell to a minimum when the outlet air temperature was
decreased sharply. The electrical efficiency reached a maximum of 6.0% at a maximum of 69.60 ◦ C at 13:00. Furthermore, with the decreasing
at 15:00, when the outlet air temperature was 68.40 ◦ C. The electrical solar irradiance intensity, the outlet air temperature also decreased from
efficiency of the amorphous silicon solar collector was relatively stable. 69.71 ◦ C to 63.07 ◦ C, but the electrical efficiency increased from 6.0% to
Although the electrical efficiency was slightly reduced, it ranged from 7.4%. The electrical efficiency of the polycrystalline silicon collector
5.2% to 6.0% with an average efficiency of 5.7% during the all-day was low after 12:00 because the poor temperature characteristic of the
experimental process and was nearly free from temperature influence. polycrystalline silicon collector (temperature coefficient of the current is
The electrical efficiency variation for the polycrystalline silicon approximately 0.4%/K; Platz et al., 1997). When the outlet air tem­
collector was quite different from that of the amorphous silicon collec­ perature was over 60 ◦ C between 12:00 and 15:00, the power output of
tor. The maximum electrical efficiency of the polycrystalline silicon the polycrystalline silicon collector decreased further than that of the

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D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

Upper layer Solar radiation

70 Solar radiation 1400 70 1400
Middle layer
Upper layer
65 65 Lower layer
Middle layer 1200 1200
Lower layer 60
60
1000 1000
55 55

Solar radiation (W·m )

-2
Solar radiation (W·m )

Temperature (°C)
800

-2
800 50
Temperature (°C)

50

45 600
45 600
40
40
400
400
35
35
200
200 30
30

25 0
25 0

08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00
08:00

09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00 Time (HH:MM)

Time (HH:MM)

(a) (b)
Fig. 8. The solar radiation and each layer’s temperature variation during the drying periods for mode 2. (a) The first day, and (b) the second day.

Fig. 9. Variation of air temperature with solar radiation. Fig. 11. Variation of electrical efficiency with solar radiation.

amorphous silicon collector. On the contrary, the electrical efficiency of

the amorphous silicon collector fluctuated less because its better tem­
perature is characteristic (approximately 0.1%/K; Platz et al., 1997).
Thus, although the polycrystalline silicon collector had a higher elec­
trical efficiency than the amorphous silicon collector when the outlet air
temperature of the collectors was lower, the electrical efficiencies of the
two collectors were similar after 12:00 with a high outlet temperature.
The outlet air temperature of the amorphous silicon collector was
higher than that of the polycrystalline silicon collector, and the electrical
efficiency fluctuated less. The maximum electrical efficiency fluctuation
for the amorphous silicon collector was 0.8%, different from the
maximum electrical efficiency fluctuation for the polycrystalline silicon
collector, which was 3.8%. This is because the temperature character­
istic performance of the amorphous silicon cells is better than the
polycrystalline silicon cells (i.e., the temperature efficiency coefficient
for the amorphous silicon cells is lower). However, the average electrical
efficiencies of the amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon PV/T
Fig. 10. Variation of thermal efficiency with solar radiation. collectors were 5.7% and 6.8%, respectively, and their all-day electrical
efficiencies were 10.4% and 12.0%, respectively.
Moreover, the comprehensive efficiencies of the two PV/T collectors

987
D. Kong et al. Solar Energy 208 (2020) 978–989

were 54.4% and 55.4%, respectively, according to Eq. (9). The Foundation of China, China (Grant No. 51966019 and 21965040) and
comprehensive efficiencies of the two PV/T air collectors were similar, the Key Programme of Yunnan Foundational Research Projects, China
but the thermal and electrical efficiencies showed greater differences. (Acceptance No. 201901S070098).
The amorphous silicon collector has a higher thermal efficiency because
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Declaration of Competing Interest incorporated compound parabolic concentrator with photovoltaic/thermal system
and preliminary experiment. Energy Convers. Manag. 85, 204–211. https://doi.org/
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This study was supported by the National Natural Science

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