Numerical simulation of a PVT-PCM system by altering fluid tube positioning adding nanoparticles and embedding a porous medium

The objective of this study is to investigate Photovoltaic-Thermal (PVT) systems, designed to simultaneously reduce the temperature of PV modules and harvest thermal energy. The incorporation of PCM is explored to effectively store thermal energy and maintain a uniform temperature distribution across the PV surface. The study employs numerical analysis, focusing on varying the placement of water tubes within the PVT-PCM system. The findings reveal that the inclusion of a copper porous medium significantly lowers PV module temperatures while maintaining high efficiency, with a peak efficiency of 18.85 % observed in case 3 with the porous medium, compared to 17.77 % in case 1 without it. For cases without a porous medium, optimal water tube placement is suggested to be in the middle or at the highest point within the container to maximize thermal energy with the lowest drop in electrical efficiency. However, when using a porous medium, from the electrical point of view, the middle positions are recommended due to the presence of a cold zone around the water tube. Besides, from the thermal energy gain point of view, case numbers 1 and 5 have shown the best performance with the highest liquid fraction values of 68.6 % and 67.5 %, respectively. • Water tube placement arrangement inside the PCM domain of PVT-PCM is studied. • Adding copper nanoparticles inside PCM showed little improvement. • Embedding copper porous structure within PCM significantly improved PV efficiency.