Performance, cost and life-cycle assessment study of hybrid PVT/AIR solar systems

Abstract

An alternative and cost-effective solution to building integrated PV systems is to use hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar systems. These systems consist of PV modules with an air channel at their rear surface, where ambient air is circulating in the channel for PV cooling and the extracted heat can be used for building thermal needs. To increase the system thermal efficiency, additional glazing is necessary, but this results in the decrease of the PV module electrical output from the additional optical losses of the solar radiation. PV/T solar systems with air heat extraction have been extensively studied at the University of Patras. Prototypes in their standard form and also with low-cost modifications have been tested, aiming to achieve improved PV/T systems. An energetic and environmental assessment for the PV and PV/T systems tested has been performed by the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', implementing the specific software SimaPro 5Á1 regarding the life-cycle assessment (LCA) methodology applied. In this paper electrical and thermal energy output results for PV and PV/T systems are given, focusing on their performance improvements and environmental impact, considering their construction and operation requirements. The new outcome of the study was that the glazed type PV/T systems present optimum performance regarding energy, cost and LCA results.

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

“…For this subject, the reader is referred to the work of Frankl and Battisti at the University of Rome (e.g. [4,284,6,295] and the work of Crawford et al [7]). Finally, the issue of combining electrical and thermal yield into an overall efficiency for PVT is not discussed here; for a nice overview the reader is referred to the work of Coventry [8].…”

Photovoltaic Thermal PV/T systems: A review

“…However, this article shows a clear description of these system parameters [75][76]. Tripanagnostopoulos et al [77] performed experiments on glazed and unglazed PV/T water cooling systems in Greece. Authors were able to enhance the conductivity through aluminum reflectors then calculated the LCA, EPBT, and LCA.…”

Optimal sizing and life cycle assessment of residential photovoltaic energy systems with battery storage

“…multiplied by a suitable weight factor. 32 The greenhouse airborne emission effect on global warming depends on the selected time horizon. For the GWP indicator used in the paper, the time horizon is 100 years.…”

“…Grid electricity impacts depend on the energy source mix and they vary substantially for different countries. 32 The following figures are used in the present paper 6Á5 MJ low heating value (LHV)/kWh for primary energy resources and 0Á6 kg CO 2eq /kWh for GWP, both for Europe. The EPBT is 6Á2 years and CO 2 PBT is 4Á6 years for the minimum LLP level for Antalya.…”

“…The CPBT corresponds to the number of years needed for the investment cost to be recovered. 32 The cost of the conventional electricity was taken as 0Á15 $/kWh for electricity. The CPBT was calculated for two different approaches: based on the total net energy production and based on the energy delivered to the load.…”