Abstract
Photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) panels combine solar thermal and photovoltaic technologies and generate simultaneously both heat and electricity. This paper looks at the potential of integrating these systems into small domestic prosumer households for the climates of Bucharest, Romania, and Strasbourg, France. First, some brief background information on PVT systems and the concept of prosumers is introduced, highlighting their features as well as the solar energy market setting in Romania and France. Next, a PVT system is proposed for a given household consumer in Strasbourg and Bucharest with the variable weather conditions corresponding to the two locations. The PVT system and the coupled consumer are modelled in TRNSYS (v17, Thermal Energy System Specialists, Madison, USA). A performance analysis is carried out in order to establish the daily instantaneous energy output and the annual energy production. The results indicate a 10–12% better performance in Bucharest compared to Strasbourg due to slightly better weather conditions. The system efficiency was assessed through various methods (first law efficiency and primary energy saving). Depending on the method used, the location and time of year, the results vary from 15% for the first law efficiency to 90% for the primary energy saving efficiency. The most suitable efficiency assessment method for this study was found to be the primary energy saving method, as it takes into account the regional differences in energy production. This study concludes that the Romanian PVT market has a good potential for adopting the technology, especially since it is currently less mature than in France.
Highlights
Solar energy is the most wide-spread type of renewable energy, due to its multiple benefits: It is available in many locations, has low operational costs and can be adapted to small, decentralized systems
photovoltaic-thermal systems (PVT) systems are a type of micro-cogeneration technology that can be very efficiently integrated into individual households
This paper has performed a dynamic simulation of a PVT system for a small size domestic household using the software TRNSYS
Summary
Solar energy is the most wide-spread type of renewable energy, due to its multiple benefits: It is available in many locations, has low operational costs and can be adapted to small, decentralized systems. There is sufficient solar radiation reaching the Earth to meet 10,000 times the current energy needs of the world [1]. The established solar technologies currently available on the market can be broadly classified into photovoltaic (PV) panels and passive solar-thermal panels (ST). Hybrid photovoltaic-thermal systems (PVT) combine these two technologies and maximize their benefits into one single piece of equipment, producing both electricity and useful heat (Figure 1). PVT systems are a type of micro-cogeneration technology that can be very efficiently integrated into individual households. This can achieve decentralized production of clean heat and energy, maximizing the South facing available space and obtaining an overall better payback of the investment, compared to separate side-by-side PV and ST systems [2]
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