Thermal and Electrical Assessment of an Integrated Solar Photovoltaic Thermal (PV/T) Water Collector Equipped with a Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC)

Abstract

In this article, an attempt is made to develop a thermal and an electrical model for an integrated solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) water collector equipped with a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC). For this purpose, initially a detailed energy balance is carried out to model the thermal behavior of the system and find analytical expressions and water temperatures. Secondly, the electrical model including parameters such as short-circuit current, open-circuit voltage, maximum power point voltage, and maximum power point current for module affected by the outputs of thermal model is developed. A computer simulation is also developed to carry out numerical computations, etc. based on climatic and design parameters of an experimental research presented by previous researchers. The results of simulation are in good agreement with their experimental measurements. Finally, parametric studies are done to find the effects of some parameters on the electrical and thermal efficiencies.