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Design, Simulation and Experimental Investigation of a Solar System Based on PV Panels and PVT Collectors

Author

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  • Annamaria Buonomano

    (Department of Industrial Engineering (DII)—University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio, 80, Naples 80125, Italy)

  • Francesco Calise

    (Department of Industrial Engineering (DII)—University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio, 80, Naples 80125, Italy)

  • Maria Vicidomini

    (Department of Industrial Engineering (DII)—University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio, 80, Naples 80125, Italy)

Abstract

This paper presents numerical and experimental analyses aimed at evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) collectors. An experimental setup was purposely designed and constructed in order to compare the electrical performance of a PVT solar field with the one achieved by an identical solar field consisting of conventional photovoltaic (PV) panels. The experimental analysis also aims at evaluating the potential advantages of PVT vs. PV in terms of enhancement of electrical efficiency and thermal energy production. The installed experimental set-up includes four flat polycrystalline silicon PV panels and four flat unglazed polycrystalline silicon PVT collectors. The total electrical power and area of the solar field are 2 kWe and 13 m 2 , respectively. The experimental set-up is currently installed at the company AV Project Ltd., located in Avellino (Italy). This study also analyzes the system from a numerical point of view, including a thermo-economic dynamic simulation model for the design and the assessment of energy performance and economic profitability of the solar systems consisting of glazed PVT and PV collectors. The experimental setup was modelled and partly simulated in TRNSYS environment. The simulation model was useful to analyze efficiencies and temperatures reached by such solar technologies, by taking into account the reference technology of PVTs (consisting of glazed collectors) as well as to compare the numerical data obtained by dynamic simulations with the gathered experimental results for the PV technology. The numerical analysis shows that the PVT global efficiency is about 26%. Conversely, from the experimental point of view, the average thermal efficiency of PVT collectors is around 13% and the electrical efficiencies of both technologies are almost coincident and equal to 15%.

Suggested Citation

  • Annamaria Buonomano & Francesco Calise & Maria Vicidomini, 2016. "Design, Simulation and Experimental Investigation of a Solar System Based on PV Panels and PVT Collectors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:7:p:497-:d:72985
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    6. Pouriya Nasseriyan & Hossein Afzali Gorouh & João Gomes & Diogo Cabral & Mazyar Salmanzadeh & Tiffany Lehmann & Abolfazl Hayati, 2020. "Numerical and Experimental Study of an Asymmetric CPC-PVT Solar Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-21, April.
    7. Malvika, A. & Arunachala, U.C. & Varun, K., 2022. "Sustainable passive cooling strategy for photovoltaic module using burlap fabric-gravity assisted flow: A comparative Energy, exergy, economic, and enviroeconomic analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
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    9. Francesco Calise & Rafal Damian Figaj & Laura Vanoli, 2017. "Experimental and Numerical Analyses of a Flat Plate Photovoltaic/Thermal Solar Collector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-21, April.
    10. Klemen Sredenšek & Sebastijan Seme & Bojan Štumberger & Miralem Hadžiselimović & Amor Chowdhury & Zdravko Praunseis, 2021. "Experimental Validation of a Dynamic Photovoltaic/Thermal Collector Model in Combination with a Thermal Energy Storage Tank," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, December.
    11. Uche, J. & Muzás, A. & Acevedo, L.E. & Usón, S. & Martínez, A. & Bayod, A.A., 2020. "Experimental tests to validate the simulation model of a Domestic Trigeneration Scheme with hybrid RESs and Desalting Techniques," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 407-419.
    12. Widyolar, Bennett & Jiang, Lun & Brinkley, Jordyn & Hota, Sai Kiran & Ferry, Jonathan & Diaz, Gerardo & Winston, Roland, 2020. "Experimental performance of an ultra-low-cost solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collector using aluminum minichannels and nonimaging optics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    13. Lari, Muhammad O. & Sahin, Ahmet Z., 2018. "Effect of retrofitting a silver/water nanofluid-based photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system with a PCM-thermal battery for residential applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 98-107.
    14. Jin-Hee Kim & Sang-Myung Kim & Jun-Tae Kim, 2021. "Experimental Performance of an Advanced Air-Type Photovoltaic/Thermal (PVT) Collector with Direct Expansion Air Handling Unit (AHU)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-10, January.
    15. Shin-Yeu Lin & Ai-Chih Lin, 2016. "Risk-Limiting Scheduling of Optimal Non-Renewable Power Generation for Systems with Uncertain Power Generation and Load Demand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-16, October.

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