Title: Exergetic assessment of a concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPV/T) system

Authors: Ali Etem Gürel

Addresses: Department of Electrical and Energy, Vocational School, Duzce University, Duzce, 81010, Turkey

Abstract: Photovoltaic module efficiency can be increased by concentrating the solar radiation that is captured. This approach, however, may increase cell temperature and decrease the efficiency of the module. Such conditions can be prevented by cooling down the photovoltaic modules. Currently, this operation is generally performed with water or air. To improve cooling, this study presents the design, manufacture and analysis of a concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPV/T) system utilising paraffin wax, which is a novel method, to cool down photovoltaic cells and to store thermal energy. Exergy analysis was done for various system states of this system in which a concentrator was used and not used, and results were compared. Even with the use of a concentrator in the system, the average temperature of the photovoltaic cells was measured as 30°C. The average electrical efficiency of photovoltaic cells in the system was calculated as 14.67%.

Keywords: exergy analysis; solar energy; photovoltaic cells; solar cells; solar energy; paraffin wax; cell cooling; energy storage; thermal energy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2016.078922

International Journal of Exergy, 2016 Vol.21 No.2, pp.127 - 135

Received: 31 Oct 2015
Accepted: 20 Feb 2016
Published online: 05 Sep 2016 *

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