Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Thermal Efficiency Improvement in a Hybrid Solar–Electric Water Heating System
Source abstract
Abstract
Many studies on solar heating systems have examined individual techniques to enhance the performance of solar water collectors, such as flow obstructions, increased turbulence, nanofluids, and investment in thermal storage. The benefits of integrating these sustainability strategies into a single, sustainable system have yet to be fully established. This work displays a hybrid water-heating system that contains a solar water collector (SWC) and an electric water heater (EWH), a photovoltaic panel (PV), and nano-additives to increase the outlet water temperature and improve thermal efficiency. Numerical and experimental analyses were used to estimate the influence of water flow rate (2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 L/min) and different Al2O3 concentrations (0.1%, 0.2%, and 0.3%) on system performance using U-shaped pipe in SWC model. The results highlight that lower flow rates consistently yield higher ΔT values because water spends a longer time in the collector, allowing it to absorb more heat. Also, when using water only, the collector efficiency increases pro-aggressively with flow rate. A significant performance enhancement is observed upon incorporating Al2O3 nanoparticles into the fluid, with a 0.1% Al2O3 volume concentration improving efficiency by ~7.4% over water. At 0.3%, the highest improvement is recorded, yielding a ~9.3% gain in efficiency compared to the base case.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems · Solar-Powered Water Purification Methods · Phase Change Materials Research
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Karabük University, 78050 Karabük, Turkey
Training and Workshop Center, University of Technology-Iraq, Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Baghdad 10066, Iraq
References (36)
Show source-provided references
1. Solar water heaters with phase change material thermal energy storage medium: A review10.1016/j.rser.2009.01.024 ↗
2. Long-term performance of evacuated tubular solar water heaters in Sydney, Australia10.1016/0038-092X(84)90253-6 ↗
3. Thermal performance of the glass evacuated tube solar collector with U-tube10.1016/j.buildenv.2010.01.015 ↗
4. An experimental study of the utilization of heat pipes for solar water heaters10.1016/S1359-4311(98)00096-9 ↗
5. Ajel, M.G., GediK, E., Abdul Wahhab, H.A., and Shallal, B.H. (2023). Performance Analysis of an Open-Flow Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) Solar Collector Using Different Fin Shapes. Sustainability, 15.10.3390/su15053877 ↗
6. Thermal performance behavior of a domestic hot water solar storage tank during consumption operation10.1016/j.enconman.2010.06.075 ↗
7. Review on solar water heater collector and thermal energy performance of circulating pipe10.1016/j.rser.2011.06.008 ↗
8. Experimental investigation on the thermal performance of a thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger10.1016/j.energy.2010.04.028 ↗
9. CFD applications in various heat exchangers design: A review10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2011.09.001 ↗
10. A comprehensive review of heat transfer intensification methods for latent heat storage units
11. Impact of Alumina Nanoparticle Additives on Open-Flow Flat Collector Performance for PV Panel Thermal Control Application10.5109/6792842 ↗
12. Numerical investigation of heat transfer and fluid flow in a solar air heater duct with multi-V-shaped ribs on the absorber plate10.1016/j.energy.2015.07.069 ↗
13. Thermal performance analysis of large-scale flat plate solar collectors and regional applicability in China10.1016/j.energy.2021.121931 ↗
14. Review on micro/nano phase change materials for solar thermal applications10.1016/j.renene.2019.03.088 ↗
15. Improving the thermal efficiency of a solar flat plate collector using MWCNT-Fe3O4/water hybrid nanofluids and ensemble machine learning10.1016/j.csite.2022.102448 ↗
16. Heat transfer augmentation in solar heat exchanger duct with louver-punched V-baffles10.1016/j.solener.2022.11.009 ↗
17. Numerical investigation on heat transfer enhancement of solar air heater using sinusoidal corrugations on absorber plate10.1016/j.ijmecsci.2018.01.037 ↗
18. Heat transfer augmentation through rectangular cross-section duct with one corrugated surface: An experimental and numerical study10.1016/j.csite.2022.102252 ↗
19. Performance enhancement of an integrated system with solar flat plate collector for hydrogen production using waste heat recovery10.1016/j.energy.2019.01.096 ↗
20. Zhu, Q., Lin, H., Zheng, H., and Yu, Z. (2025). Performance analysis of an integrated energy system driven by solar energy for hydrogen production and cogeneration application. Processes, 13.10.3390/pr13113693 ↗
21. Effects of ribs on thermal performance of curved absorber tube used in cylindrical solar collectors10.1016/j.renene.2020.07.077 ↗
22. Guo, F., Zhang, J., Shan, M., and Yang, X. (2017). Analysis on the Optimum Matching of Collector and Storage Size of Solar Water Heating Systems in Building Space Heating Applications, Tsinghua University Press.10.1007/s12273-018-0429-9 ↗
23. Experimental study of the storage system of a solar water heater equipped with an innovative absorber spherical double-walled tank immersed in a phase change material10.1016/j.est.2023.106782 ↗
24. Field measurement and numerical simulation of combined solar heating operation modes for domestic buildings based on the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau case10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.03.016 ↗
25. Energy matrices, exergoeconomic and enviroeconomic analysis of air-cooled and water-cooled solar still: Experimental investigation and numerical simulation10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.081 ↗
26. Exergy, economics, and pumping power analyses of a flat plate solar water heater 80 using a thermal performance enhancer in the absorber tube10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.03.135 ↗
27. Zhao, Q., Su, Y., Ji, J., He, W., Hu, Z., Fang, T., and Wang, H. (2018). The thermal behavior of a dual-function solar collector integrated with a building: An experimental and numerical study on the air heating mode. Energies, 11.10.3390/en11092402 ↗
28. Experimental Analysis of Solar Water Heater, with Heat Exchanger10.9790/1684-1401035559 ↗
29. Santos, E.C., Sales, J.H., and Lima, C. (2014, January 23–24). COMSOL Multiphysics® Model of a Solar Dryer. Proceedings of the COMSOL Conference in Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
30. Sustainable biomimetic solar distillation with edge crystallization for passive salt collection and zero brine discharge10.1038/s41467-024-45108-2 ↗
31. Viability of integrating Solar Water Heating systems into High Energy Performance housing in Algeria10.1016/j.energy.2018.02.040 ↗
32. Performance investigation of flat plate solar collector with nanoparticle enhanced integrated thermal energy storage system10.1016/j.est.2022.105681 ↗
33. Performance improvement of a nanofluid solar collector based on direct absorption collection (DAC) concepts10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2014.03.072 ↗
34. Nanofluid-based direct absorption solar collector10.1063/1.3429737 ↗
35. Efficiency and heat transfer improvements in a parabolic trough solar collector using TiO2 nanofluids under turbulent flow regime10.1016/j.renene.2017.11.079 ↗
36. Al-Maliki, W.A.K., Al-Hasnawi, A.G.T., Abdul Wahhab, H.A., Alobaid, F., and Epple, B. (2021). A Comparison Study on the Improved Operation Strategy for a Parabolic Trough Solar Power Plant in Spain. Appl. Sci., 119.10.3390/app11209576 ↗