Improving the Electrical Efficiency of the PV Panel via Geothermal Heat Exchanger: Mathematical Model, Validation and Parametric Analysis

Evangelos I. Sakellariou, Petros J. Axaopoulos, Ioannis E. Sarris and Nodirbek Abdullaev
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Evangelos I. Sakellariou: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Attica, Campus II, Thivon 250, 12241 Aegaleo, Greece
Petros J. Axaopoulos: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Attica, Campus II, Thivon 250, 12241 Aegaleo, Greece
Ioannis E. Sarris: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Attica, Campus II, Thivon 250, 12241 Aegaleo, Greece
Nodirbek Abdullaev: Department of Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering, Tashkent State Technical University, Universitet 2, Tashkent 100095, Uzbekistan

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-22

Abstract: Silicon based photovoltaic modules (PV) are a wide spread technology and are used for small and large PV power stations. At the moment, the most efficient method which can be used to improve the annual electrical energy production of PVs is solar tracking systems. However, solar tracking systems increase substantially the initial cost of the investment and insert maintenance costs. During the last few decades, alternative improving methods have been investigated. These methods are based on the reduction of the PV cell temperature, which adversely affects the power production. In the present study, a system with water based photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collector paired with geothermal heat exchanger (GHE) is compared on the electrical energy basis with a conventional PV system. As the first approach on the topic, the aim is to find out in which extent the PVT-GHE system improves the electrical energy generation by cooling down the PV cells and which parameters influence the most its energy performance. With this aim in mind, the model of the system with the PV, PVT, and GHE was formulated in TRNSYS and validated via experimental data. Meteorological data for Athens (Greece) were used and parametric analyses were conducted. The results showed that the PVT based system can increase the generated electricity from 0.61 to 5.5%. The flowrate, the size of the GHE and the number in-series connected PVTs are the parameters which influence the most the energy performance of the system.

Keywords: PVT; PV; energy metrics; geothermal heat exchanger; retrofitted PVT collector; PV cell temperature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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