Thermal Photovoltaic Module Research Articles

МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЕ КОНЦЕНТРИРОВАННОГО СОЛНЕЧНОГО ИЗЛУЧЕНИЯ ИНФРАКРАСНЫМ ДЛЯ ИЗМЕРЕНИЯ ТЕПЛОВЫХ ХАРАКТЕРИСТИК ТЕПЛОФОТОЭЛЕКТРИЧЕСКОГО МОДУЛЯ СОЛНЕЧНОЙ КОНЦЕНТРАТОРНОЙ УСТАНОВКИ

When developing renewable energy conversion devices, more and more attention is being paid to improving the efficiency of using renewable energy. The efficiency of modern mass-produced solar photovoltaic modules is about 20 percent. In order to increase the completeness of the use of solar energy, the direction of thermal photovoltaic systems is receiving significant development. Devices of this type realize the task of recycling the remaining 80 percent of energy into heat for its subsequent use. The conversion of concentrated solar energy into photoelectricity and heat is carried out by a thermal photovoltaic module. The study of its photovoltaic and thermal parameters is one of the main tasks when creating an appropriate installation. (Research Purpose) The research purpose is developing a methodology and creating a laboratory installation for studying the thermal characteristics of a thermal photovoltaic module. (Materials and methods) The design of the thermal photovoltaic module is presented. The spectral characteristics of the photodetector surface of the module in the visible and infrared spectral ranges have been studied by dispersion and Fourier spectroscopy. (Results and discussion) The analysis of the results of the study of the reflection spectra in the visible and infrared spectral ranges along with the spectral density of the infrared Planck radiation for the temperatures of the infrared emitter in the region of 250-300 degrees Celsius is carried out. The conversion coefficients of the intensities of concentrated solar radiation into the density of the Stefan-Boltzmann infrared radiation flux are obtained. A test measurement of the stationary temperature of the coolant at the output of the module was carried out, according to which the flux density of the heating infrared radiation was calculated. This value is correctly consistent with the independently measured intensity of infrared radiation. (Conclusions) A laboratory measuring stand has been created to simulate concentrated solar radiation with infrared radiation of the thermal range to measure the thermal characteristics of the thermal photovoltaic module of a solar concentrator installation.

ТЕХНОЛОГИЯ СБОРКИ БАЗОВЫХ МОДУЛЕЙ ТФЭ НА ОСНОВЕ ПРИМЕНЕНИЯ АДДИТИВНЫХ ТЕХНОЛОГИЙ

The main task in the development of concentrating systems is in reducing the inhomogeneous distribution of illumination over the focal spot, which determines the distribution of concentrated radiation on the receiver, which affects the efficiency of heat and photo converters. (Research purpose) The research purpose is in modeling for calculation, construction manufacturing and research of characteristics of a thermal photovoltaic module with specified energy parameters. (Materials and methods) The article considers new thermal photovoltaic modules that include photodetectors and concentrators that provide efficient conversion of solar energy into heat. The research is based on mathematical modeling techniques using the laws of photoelectricity, geometric optics, and heat and mass transfer. The computer-aided design system COMPASS-3D was used to create a prototype model of the solar module, and the FDM 3D printing technology was used to produce the resulting CAD models. Authors conducted bench and field tests of components and complexes of solar power systems in order to clarify the design parameters. (Results and discussion) During the study of a developed solar module with parabolic concentrators and a discrete photodetector with asymmetric profile, with a system of the coolant flow, physical and mathematical models on the basis of which was calculated: the structural parameters; the distribution of concentration of solar radiation across the width of the photodetector; dependences of the distribution of the heating temperature of the coolant over the profile of the photodetector. Authors designed a layout of the basic thermal photovoltaic module, in which the rounded lower part of the rotary rack fixed on the axis allows to create a rotation in the axial direction of the photodetector holders within ±20 degrees with a mechanism for fixing the adjusted position. (Conclusions) Based on the alignment carried out on the stand, the identical location of the receivers of concentrated solar radiation relative to the concentrators in the installation is preserved.

Study of the electrical and thermal performances of photovoltaic thermal collector-compound parabolic concentrated

Abstract The importance of utilizing the solar energy as a very suitable source among multi-source approaches to replace the conventional energy is on the rise in the last four decades. The invention of the photovoltaic module (PV) could be the corner stone in this process. However, the limited amount of energy obtained from PV was and still the main challenge of full utilization of the solar energy. In this paper, the use of the compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) along with the thermal photovoltaic module (PVT) where the cooling process of the CPC is conducted using a novel technique of water jet impingement has applied experimentally and physically tested. The test includes the effect of water jet impingement on the total power, electrical efficiency, thermal efficiency, and total efficiency on CPC-PVT system. The cooling process at the maximum irradiation by water jet impingement resulted in improving the electrical efficiency by 7%, total output power by 31% and the thermal efficiency by 81%. These results outperform the recent highest results recorded by the most recent work.

Optimising thermal photovoltaic energy system for green and sustainable energy generation

Electricity generated from a concentrated thermal photovoltaic system can be improved upon for optimum output. This investigation considered the various options of optimising system operation via effective control of the operating conditions. It examined various options of varying the system configurations for optimised system efficiency and power output and at minimum operating costs. The number of mirrors and photovoltaic cells for use in the concentrated thermal photovoltaic system were set at eight as standard for the system operation. This number was varied down and up (from eight to six and then from eight to ten) to study the effects of these variations on the concentrated thermal photovoltaic system efficiency and generated power output. A novel thermal model was built in two dimensions and was used to simulate the thermal performance of the concentrated thermal photovoltaic modules. The parameters used for the materials involved were defined and the appropriate physics applied in the study of various operating conditions that affected the system performance for the two-dimensional system were stated. The results showed that temperature rise was least in the ten mirrors configuration and highest in the six mirrors configuration. The six PV cells-mirrors configuration, however, generated the highest power output of the three different configurations considered. The six PV cells/mirrors configuration utilised the least numbers of mirrors and PV cells out of the three configurations, ultimately translating to reduced-materials cost for the operation. Based on these findings, the choice of the lower number of six mirrors and six PV cells was considered the most economical and, therefore, most desirable.

Energy analysis of solar blind system concept using energy system modelling

Energy conservation in the horticultural industry is one of the main challenging points regarding to the sustainable development. Commercial greenhouse is known as the most energy consuming and simultaneously the most effective cultivation method which promises 10 times more production yield than open field horticultural methods. Supplementary heating demand, electrical energy demand for artificial lighting system as well as active cooling systems are the main parameters which have to be reduced in order to have more energy efficient system. Usually, in the conventional greenhouse the solar radiation will blocked using a thermal screen to avoid the overheating problem and reduce the cooling demand. In this method, a large portion of solar irradiation will reflected and absorbed by curtain without any useful utilization. By introducing the solar blind system, the excess solar radiation will absorb and convert into useful thermal energy as well as electrical energy. As a matter of fact, the solar blind system consists of a series of thermal photovoltaic modules. The solar blind system will operate based on the defined set point temperature. By exceeding the greenhouse indoor temperature than set point temperature the solar blind thermal photovoltaic modules rotate over their axis to cover the greenhouse roof and block the solar radiation and it keeps blocking the solar irradiation until the indoor temperature drops below the set point. Therefore, the cooling demand will reduce considerably while the absorbed heat and electricity gain though the thermal photovoltaic cells can be utilized later to cover a part of the greenhouse thermal and electrical demand. The main aim of this paper is to assess the solar blind system performance for various set point temperatures. Therefore an energy model has to be developed and TRNSYS is used for this purpose. The results show that by considering 18°C as the set point temperature, the highest thermal and electrical energy performance can be reached. The maximum thermal energy performance of the system is about 86% while the minimum that is corresponded to the highest set point temperature is 38%. By considering the solar blind system operated at 18°C as the set point temperature, the cooling demand in the greenhouse can be almost covered totally, which is the main aim of this concept. However, the electrical demand is reduced almost by 73%. Additionally, by applying the solar blind system concept, the irradiation level inside the greenhouse kept in the optimal level that leads to more uniform cultivation during the whole year.

A FRESNEL LENSES BASED CONCENTRATED PV SYSTEM IN A GREENHOUSE

The scope of this investigation is the development and testing of a new type of greenhouse with an integrated linear Fresnel lens, receiver module and an innovative system for tracking to exploit all direct radiation in a solar energy system. The basic idea of this horticultural application is to develop a greenhouse for pot plants (typical shadow plants) that do not like direct radiation. Removing all direct radiation will drastically reduce the need for cooling under summer conditions and the need for screens or lime coating of the glass to reflect or block a large part of the radiation. The removal of all direct radiation will block up to 81% of the solar energy, which will reduce the needed cooling capacity. The second measure is the integration of a solar energy system. When the (linear) Fresnel lenses are designed between double glass coverings and integrated in the greenhouse, the focused solar energy on the Thermal Photovoltaic (TPV) cell in the focus point delivers electric and thermal energy. The TPV module mounted in the focal point requires cooling due to the high heat load of the concentrated radiation (concentration factor of 50×). All parts are integrated in a greenhouse structure with a size of about 36 m2 and the electrical and thermal yield is determined for Dutch climate circumstances.