Abstract
While sheet-and-tube absorber is generally recommended for flat-plate photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector design because of the simplicity and promising performance, the use of rectangular-channel absorber is also tested to be a good alternative. Before a new energy technology, like PV/T, is fully implemented, its environmental superiority over the competing options should be assessed, for instance, by evaluating its consumption levels throughout its production and service life. Although there have been a plenty of environmental life-cycle assessments on the domestic solar hot water systems and PV systems, the related works on hybrid solar PV/T systems have been very few. So far there is no reported work on the assessment of PV/T collector with channel-type absorber design. This paper reports an evaluation of the energy payback time and the greenhouse gas payback time of free-standing and building-integrated PV/T systems in Hong Kong. This is based on two case studies of PV/T collectors with modular channel-type aluminium absorbers. The results confirm the long-term environmental benefits of PV/T applications.
Highlights
A photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system is a combination of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal devices that generate both electricity and heat energy from one integrated system
The life-cycle analysis (LCA) works on domestic solar hot water (DSHW) systems in majority were from EU countries [10,11,12,13]
Aluminum rectangular-channel absorber in association with sc-Si PV encapsulation was adopted in the single-glazed flatplate PV/T collector design
Summary
A photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system is a combination of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal devices that generate both electricity and heat energy from one integrated system. With solar cells as (part of) the thermal absorber, the hybrid design is able to maximize the energy output from an allocated space reserved for solar application. The water-type product design provides more effective cooling than the air-type counterpart because of the favorable thermal properties. Those with flat plate collectors meet well the low temperature water heating system requirements. In the Asia Pacific region, most large cities are dominated by air-conditioned buildings where space cooling demands are high. In these buildings, the exposed facades provide very good opportunity for accommodating the building integrated systems, the BiPV/T. The environmental life-cycle analysis (LCA) of such hybrid solar systems as applied in Hong Kong is reported
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