An experimental comparative assessment of the energy and exergy efficacy of a ternary nanofluid-based photovoltaic/thermal system equipped with a sheet-and-serpentine tube collector

The usability of water based GO-TiO2-Fe3O4 ternary nanofluid in a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector from both energy and exergy perspectives is inspected in the present experimental study. The effect of nanoadditive mixing ratio (sigma = 1:1:1, 1:2:1, 1:1:2, and 2:1:1), nanofluid mass flow rate ( mnf = 20, 40, 60 and 80 kg h-1) and nanoparticle volume concentration (phi = 0%, 0.25%, 0.5% and 1%) on the outcomes is investigated. The results revealed that the nanofluid with sigma = 1:1:1 has the best performance from both energy and exergy viewpoints. Among the examined cases, the maximum overall energy and exergy efficiencies were 88.23 and 15.36%, respectively, both belonging to the case of sigma = 1:1:1, mnf = 80 kg h-1, and phi = 1%. Finally, it was found that mnf and phi have an escalating effect on both the overall energy and exergy efficiencies.