Hybrid photovoltaic-thermal system for simultaneous generation of power and hot water utilising mobiltherm as heat transfer fluid

• Published in: International journal of sustainable energy Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 104 - 119
• Main Authors: Das, Sudhansu Sekhar, Kumar, Pramod, Sandhu, Sarbjot Singh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis 07.02.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: Heat transfer; Hot water; hybrid photovoltaic-thermal; Hybrid systems; Overheating; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic cooling; photovoltaic-thermal; Photovoltaics; Solar cells; Surface temperature
• ISSN: 1478-6451; 1478-646X
• DOI: 10.1080/14786451.2020.1798959

The efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cells, also called solar cells, is a function of temperature. It decreases at the rate of 0.5% K −1 above standard test conditions (STC) of 25°C. PV or solar cells have the capability of attaining a temperature of 50-60°C with insolation above STC. The objective of this research is to utilise the energy from the overheating of the panel to a more usable form being the heating of water. This research deals with developing a hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) system for generating enhanced power due to the reduction in surface temperature along with hot water at 60°C. The existing systems suffer from various limitations of non-uniform cooling of panels and generation of hot water at a constant temperature. The limitations are addressed in this research. Mobiltherm served as the heat transfer medium in this research. The average electrical and thermal efficiencies of the hybrid PV-T system were observed to be 13.5% and 47.24%, respectively.