A novel PV/T system integrated with spectral beam filter: A comprehensive optical and thermodynamic study
Ning Yang, Qingfan Liu, Bowen Wang, Jin Xuan, Lei Xing
Abstract
Aiming to reduce the high operating temperature of photovoltaic (PV) cells faced by traditional concentrated photovoltaic systems, this study presents a novel photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system, with specific components and geometric structures, incorporating an advanced film-based spectral beam filter. The film-based spectral beam filter is designed, demonstrating optical properties with an average reflectance and transmittance of 72.8% and 27.2%, respectively. The optical and thermodynamic performances of the PV/T system are investigated through Ray Tracing and Computational Fluid Dynamics. The optical results illustrate that the PV cells experience consistent high uniform distribution of the concentrated sunlight compared previous studies; and, as the incident angle of the impinging solar radiation increases to 1.6°, the overall optical efficiency of the PV/T system can be kept at 49.8%. The thermodynamic results indicate that the electrical conversion efficiency and the thermal conversion efficiency of the PV/T system are 15.75% and 20.90%, respectively. To improve the thermal efficiency of the PV/T system, adjustments such as suitably elevating the inlet fluid velocity and ambient temperature or moderating the inlet fluid temperature and environmental wind velocity can be implemented effectively.