| Summary: | In the present work, an improved hybrid photovoltaic/distillation (PV/D) solar collector with nanofluid-based spectral splitting technique is redesigned by a synergistic design strategy to overcome the flaws of previous experiment system. In such a system, gold nanofluid plays a dual role as a heat absorption medium and a spectral splitting filter to enhance the distillation of water. This system can maximize the utilization of solar energy in whole spectrum, and can obtain electricity and freshwater simultaneously. However, the design of such an integrated hybrid system also become more complicated. Optical and thermal features of the system must be considered carefully and should be synergistically designed in the system. Specifically, an optical simulation is used to improve the configurations of the evaporator and increase the PV efficiency of the system. Another numerical model based on computational fluid dynamics is performed to optimize the layout of moist air circulation and enhance the condensation of vapor in the system. The experimental results confirmed the potential of nanofluid-based spectral splitting technique in solar distillation application. In comparison with the conventional system, the total efficiency of solar energy in the improved system with gold nanoparticles of 3.1 μg/mL, 10.2 μg/mL and 14.1 μg/mL concentration increases by 59.27%, 62.80% and 64.40%, respectively. The water yield per unit area of the improved system with different nanoparticle concentration increases by 35.32%, 37.59% and 42.62%, respectively. These results indicate that the improved system not only can realize the self-sufficiency, but also can carry out a flexible adjustment between PV and desalination units by changing the optical properties of the nanofluid. It can meet a versatile demand of power and heat in more extensive applications.
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