A novel photovoltaic-thermal collector prototype: Design, modeling, experimental validation and control

In this paper the prototype of a novel photovoltaic and water heating system (PVT) is designed. A dynamic model of the collector based on the energy transfer phenomenon has been derived. Experimental tests on the prototype of the PVT collector have been used to validate the model under the effect of water mass flow rate and to show the performance improvement with respect a traditional photovoltaic panel. In the end a Fuzzy control scheme is proposed to maximize the performances of the collector and the results have been compared with a traditional PID controller.