Journal
ENERGIES
Volume 5, Issue 10, Pages 4186-4208Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/en5104186
Keywords
PVT; triple-junction; solar energy
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This paper presents a design procedure and a simulation model of a novel concentrating PVT collector. The layout of the PVT system under investigation was derived from a prototype recently presented in literature and commercially available. The prototype consisted in a parabolic trough concentrator and a linear triangular receiver. In that prototype, the bottom surfaces of the receiver are equipped with mono-crystalline silicon cells whereas the top surface is covered by an absorbing surface. The aperture area of the parabola was covered by a glass in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the system. In the modified version of the collector considered in this paper, two changes are implemented: the cover glass was eliminated and the mono-crystalline silicon cells were replaced by triple-junction cells. In order to analyze PVT performance, a detailed mathematical model was implemented. This model is based on zero-dimensional energy balances. The simulation model calculates the temperatures of the main components of the system and the main energy flows Results showed that the performance of the system is excellent even when the fluid temperature is very high (>100 degrees C). Conversely, both electrical and thermal efficiencies dramatically decrease when the incident beam radiation decreases.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available