Abstract
The application of compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) in photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system increases the thermal and electrical energy gain, and the phase change material (PCM) helps cool down the operating temperature of cells. In this study, an open-air experiment is constructed to compare the overall performance of conventional flat photovoltaic (FPV), concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T-CPC) and concentrating photovoltaic/thermal phase change (PV/T-CPCM) system. The maximum PV backplane temperature is 69.9 °C in PV/T-CPC, 59.2 °C in PV/T-CPCM and 36.7 °C in FPV system respectively, and the PV temperature distribution non-uniformity in PV/T-CPC is 1.5 times higher than that in PV/T-CPCM system, showing the application of concentrator enhances the useful thermal energy and meanwhile the PCM effectively improves the local overheating and temperature distribution non-uniformity problem. The average thermal energy and efficiency of PV/T-CPCM are over 2462.0 kJ and 9.0% higher than those of PV/T-CPC system respectively. Besides, the electrical power/total exergy of PV/T-CPCM system are over 1.3/4 and 1.6/2 times of FPV and PV/T-CPC system respectively. Results present that the PV/T-CPCM system owns superior thermal, electrical and exergy performance among the three systems, and the application of CPC and PCM has great advantages in improving the overall performance of the PV/T unit.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
