Extension of the Hottel-Whillier model to the analysis of combined photovoltaic/thermal flat plate collectors 

 -  Solar Energy, 22(4), p.361-366, 1979 .
<br/><br/> The well known Hottel-Whillier model for thermal analysis of fiat plate collectors is extended to the analysis of combined photovoltaielthermal collectors in a manner, such that, with simple modification of the conventional parameters of the original model, all of the existing relations and supporting information available in the literature still apply. Beyond the basic assumptions of the original model, it is only necessary to assume that the local electrical conversion efficiency of the solar cell array (absorber)is a linear decreasing function of the local absorber temperature over its operating temperature range. Based on the extended model, examples of both thermal and electrical performance of a combined collector as a function of collector design parameters are presented and discussed.