Experimental evaluation of a hybrid photovoltaic and thermal solar energy collector with integrated phase change material (PVT-PCM) in comparison with a traditional photovoltaic (PV) module

Mauricio Carmona, Alberto Palacio Bastos and José Doria García

Renewable Energy, 2021, vol. 172, issue C, 680-696

Abstract: A novel thermal energy storage and recovery system is proposed as a modification to existing photovoltaic modules with the objective to improve the solar energy collector overall efficiency. Integrating a phase change material in the hybrid module (PVT-PCM), a lower and stable operating temperature is achieved. The baseline for the experimental comparison is established by an experimental campaign that includes simultaneous operation of a hybrid PVT-PCM module and a traditional photovoltaic (PV) module. Both photovoltaic modules used are from the same manufacturer, model, and technical specifications. Before the modification to a hybrid PVT-PCM module, a difference in electrical performance between the photovoltaic modules is quantified to determine the factual effect of the modification. After the modification, the daily electrical efficiency of the hybrid PVT-PCM increased a 7.43% with respect to the traditional PV module. In addition, the daily hybrid efficiency of the PVT-PCM module reaches 31.35%, while the daily electrical efficiency of the PV module is 13.12%, which translates to a total increase of 20.45% in the capability to extract useful energy from the sun for the PVT-PCM module.

Keywords: Hybrid photovoltaic/thermal; Phase change material; Experimental evaluation; Solar photovoltaic; Solar energy efficiency; PVT-PCM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (23)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:172:y:2021:i:c:p:680-696

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.03.022

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