Solar panels are amongst the best systems to benefit of incident solar insolation. One
of the main problems with solar panels is efficiency degradation due to temperature rise as a
result of accumulated heat. Experimental work, involving solar systems and nanomaterials, is
quite expensive due to the start-up cost. This study aims to present a basic numerical modelling
method that can simulate both standard test conditions and on-site conditions with variation
of meteorological conditions. Two different Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T) systems, with
different attachment configurations, were modelled using ANSYS FLUENT software to
simulate the system thermal performance under both fixed and variable radiation intensities.
The simulated nanomaterial were Multi Walls Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT), Alumina (Al2O3)
and Boehmite (AlOOH) with water as a base fluid. Furthermore, energy and exergy analysis
was developed to calculate the energy and exergy efficiency for standalone (no external power
to feed the pump) PV/T system. System sustainable index, exergy destruction cost and entropy
generation were also studied for different nanomaterial and different nanofluid concentrations.
The numerical study showed a very good prediction -within +/- 1.5o C- compared with
experimental data for different system thermal performances under different intensities.