Optimized photovoltaic system for improved electricity conversion

Abstract

Abstract Photovoltaic (PV) modules convert solar energy into electricity; however, in actual applications, the conversion efficiency of PV modules is low. This is because the temperature of PV modules increases, most of the incoming solar radiation absorbed is discarded to the PV modules as wasted heat; this wasted heat generated can be utilized and transferred to a heat exchanger in contact to the rear PV modules. A proposed model is considered with a variation of solar cell temperature due to solar radiation and its effects on output power are modeled and evaluated, seeing PV modules as a thermal absorber, a part of the heat dissipated in the PV modules can be recovered by means of a heat transfer fluid running behind the PV modules, this method improves the PV efficiency, as well as produces thermal and electrical energy simultaneously, thus, the PV modules provide a multifunctional performance cited above, this plays the role of a hybrid solar collector system. The aim of this study is to improve the efficiency of the PV module, through the analysis of a detailed Photovoltaic-Thermal (PVT) collector model performance. The study also estimates the electrical power and thermal energy produced; using MATLAB as an application-oriented design method, the method proposed in this paper can better improve the efficiency of PV power generation and has a wide range of application prospects.