A spectrally splitting concentrating PV/T system using combined absorption optical filter and linear Fresnel reflector concentrator

Abstract

A novel spectral splitting concentrating PV/T system (CPV) based on a combined absorption optical filter and a linear Fresnel reflector concentrator is developed. The combined absorption optical filter includes a selective absorbing liquid and a solid absorption filter, acting as a band pass filter for silicon concentrator solar cells. The optical performance of both the concentrator and the hybrid receiver under different conditions is investigated through ray tracing software-LightTools. The results show that the concentrated illumination distribution within the PV module width at the focal region of the concentrator is quite uniform and 72.15% of the spectral power in the spectral band 650–1075 nm incidents the PV module using light filtering by propylene glycol (PG) and HB650. Furthermore, an indoor test of a simplified receiver is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the combined absorption filter and an energy conversion performance of the proposed spectral splitting CPV/T system is evaluated. The use of PG and HB650 combined filter produces a higher total efficiency of 46.77% and yields economic value enhancement of 54% compared to the PV only system.