Solar Photovoltaic Thermal Hybrid System
1. Introduction to PVT collector
The solar photovoltaic and photothermal integrated components are mainly composed of two parts: photovoltaic and photothermal. The photovoltaic part uses mature solar photovoltaic panels to provide the building with the required electrical energy through the control system, which mainly includes components such as photovoltaic cells, storage batteries, inverters, and controllers. The photothermal part is mainly a heat collector, which converts solar energy into thermal energy. At the same time, it uses a thermal cycle mechanism to cool the solar cells, improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency, and use solar thermal energy more efficiently. Wang Baoqun studied the economics of PVT system [4] and pointed out that PVT system has many economic advantages. For example, its variable cost per unit area is lower than the sum of PV system and solar collector system per unit area. Shorten the payback period of PV system investment. The PVT products of Australia SOLIMPEKS company are shown in Figure 1 [5].
2. The main classification of PVT
A. Liquid-cooled PVT module
Liquid-cooled PVT collectors use water or other antifreeze as the PVT cooling medium, and use metal pipes or flat plates attached to the back of the PV panels to export heat.
B. Air-cooled PVT collector
The principle is similar to the liquid-cooled PVT collector, but the difference is that it uses air as the heat export medium.
C. Concentrating PVT collector
The concentrating PVT collector is divided into three parts: the concentrating part, the solar cell part and the back plate cooling part. Generally speaking, concentrating PVT collectors use high-efficiency solar cells (such as gallium arsenide solar cells), which is conducive to reducing costs. The difficulty in the realization of this system mainly lies in the optimal design of the cooling system and the tracking device to ensure the efficient and stable operation of the system.
Solar Photovoltaic Thermal Hybrid System
improve pv panel efficiency
obtain hot water
ensure longer panel lifespan
