Experimental investigation on performance comparison of PV/T-PCM system and PV/T system

Xiaojiao Yang, Liangliang Sun, Yanping Yuan, Xudong Zhao and Xiaoling Cao

Renewable Energy, 2018, vol. 119, issue C, 152-159

Abstract: Photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) panels are devices commonly used for the conversion of solar energy into heat and electricity. The use of phase change materials (PCMs) can efficiently decrease the temperature of a PV module; this is a critical factor influencing the energy efficiency of a PV/T system. First, experiments were conducted to compare the overall energy efficiencies of the PV/T-PCM and PV/T systems. By measuring the power output, backplane temperature, and tank water temperature, the thermal, electrical, and primary energy-saving efficiencies of the two systems were calculated. The integration of a PCM layer into a PV/T panel was found to effectively reduce its heat loss to ambient. The heat stored into the PCM can be discharged into the working fluid when the solar radiation is less intensive or unavailable; this can extend its service time to the targeted building. Under a controlled indoor environment with a radiation of 800 W/m2 and water flow rate of 0.15 m3/h, the primary energy-saving efficiency for the PV/T-PCM system increased by 14%. These results indicate that the integration of a PCM into a PV/T system can obviously improve the energy performance of the system.

Keywords: Experimental investigation; Photovoltaic thermal system; Phase change materials (PCMs); Thermal and electrical efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148117311953
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:119:y:2018:i:c:p:152-159

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.11.094

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().