Sharif Digital Repository

The bifacial photovoltaic/thermal module is an emerging concept that can provide electricity and heat simultaneously, taking advantage of both front and rear sides of the panel; therefore, exhibiting a better performance compared to a conventional photovoltaic module or photovoltaic thermal module. In this study, four configurations of the bifacial photovoltaic/thermal module with different cooling methods have been proposed, i.e., cooling performed at either the upper or the lower surface, in parallel (applied to both upper and lower surfaces having similar start/endpoints), and swinging air back and forth (by guiding the air over the upper and lower surfaces, respectively). The... 

Determining the shape factor is essential for solving radiative heat transfer problems. An important case that has various applications in the heat power plant systems is calculation of the configuration factor between the fins and the in-plane parallel semi-cylinder. In the present work, Monte Carlo method, Cross string method, and analytical solutions were implemented for this problem. Several simulations were performed by varying semi-cylinders radius and different lengths of the fin. Also, the influence of the number of emitting rays and the number of strips was studied. Considering a fin between two tubes, it is found that calculating the view factor between one tube and a fin is...