Combined Photovoltaic and Thermal Hybrid Collector

Abstract

Hybrid collector which produces both electric and thermal energy is very effective system for heightening efficiency of solar energy collector. In order to obtain the fundamental characteristics of these systems, two liquid type flat plate thermal collectors with selective surface have been modified by attaching 3'' diameter silicon solar cells. The measured cell array efficiencies were 8.84% and 9.20% at 28°C, AM 1.15. The maximum thermal efficiencies of these hybrid systems were 72% and 77% using water as coolant.

Flat-plate PV-Thermal collectors and systems: A review

“…Whereas most of the research was going on in the USA, also some activities were carried out in Japan, where Sharp manufactured two flat-plate PVT prototypes [32], while also work on concentrating PVT was carried out by Nakata et al [289] at Sharp Corporation. In Germany, Karl [33] developed and tested a glazed c-Si prototype (together with AEGTelefunken) and in France, studies on concentrating PVT were carried out [288,286].…”

“…This technique was applied in many research projects (e.g. [32,43,86]). The drawback of glueing PV cells is the fact that the PV will not be sufficiently protected from the ambient (in particular from moisture), which makes this technique problematic for commercial application.…”

“…Suzuki et al [32] reports on experiments using a silver-filled glue that he used to glue solar cells directly to the thermal absorber plate. In order to isolate the PV-cells electrically, he created a galvanic separation between neighbouring solar cells by using an absorber-plate that consisted of metal parts separated by non-conductive material.…”

“…Suzuki et al [32] reports on experiments using mono-crystalline silicon cells. However, the collector surface including the cells was covered with transparent silicone rubber, …”

Concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) solar collector systems: Part I – Fundamentals, design considerations and current technologies

“…The concept of a PVT has been introduced and studied since the mid 70s by various groups in different countries. Some of the earliest PVT studies include the works of Böer [246] in 1973 who installed airtype PVTs in a house, Wolf [234] in 1976 on a residential flat plate collector (FPC) with an array of solar cells mounted on its surface, Florschuetz [243] in 1979 who extended the Hottel-Whillier-Bliss model to PVT collectors, Hendrie [244] in 1979 on air-and liquidtype PVTs, and Suzuki and Kitamura [245] in 1980 in Japan on two high-performance liquid-type PVTs. The work conducted on PVTs Fig.…”