Simulated Performance Analysis of a Hybrid Water-Cooled Photovoltaic/Parabolic Dish Concentrator Coupled with Conical Cavity Receiver

Abstract

The present research discloses a novel hybrid water-cooled Photovoltaic/Parabolic Dish Concentrator coupled with conical cavity receiver and spectral beam splitter (PV/PDC-CCR-BSF). In effect, a compact co-generating solar-concentrating PV system involving a subsequent optical interface has been fully developed and numerically tested. The optical performance of the proposed hybrid solar-concentrating system was modeled and assessed using the RT 3D-4R method while the thermal yield of the system was examined using the Finite Element Method. In addition to that, different configurations of serpentine-shape embedded water-cooling pipes (rectangle, semicircle, semi-ellipse and triangle) have been tested and optimized for maximum heat collection and minimum operating cell temperature. The performance of all the tested serpentine-shape embedded water-cooling pipes was evaluated with respect to conventional serpentine-shape water-cooling pipes. The outcomes indicated that the triangular cross-section outperforms other shapes in terms of heat dissipation capabilities, with about −446 W and maximum useful thermal power in the medium of the heat transfer fluid of 11.834 kW.