The temperature rise of air when it passes through the air channel of a photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system is exponential. Hence, for a constant available heat transfer area, the rise in air temperature in the trailing portion of the air channel is lower when compared with the temperature rise in the initial portion of the channel. This problem was addressed in the present work by introducing three longitudinal staves (vertical thin metal sheets) in the trailing portion of the air channel and the performance of a single pass PVT air system was investigated experimentally. The experiments were conducted in the location of Tiruchirappalli, Tamilnadu, India during the months of June to November in the year of 2017. The experimental results also demonstrate that the use of longitudinal staves in the trailing portion effectively increase the air outlet temperature. For an air inlet temperature of 29 degrees C, the maximum possible outlet air temperature with and without staves was about 34 degrees C and 30.7 degrees C respectively. An indigenous PVT data monitoring system was developed with ATMEL MEGA 2560 microcontroller to monitor PV cell temperature, air inlet and outlet temperatures, current and voltage of the PV system and pressure drop. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.