Performance testing of a heat pipe PV/T heat pump system under different working modes

摘要

The electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) panel is affected by PV cell temperature. The lower PV working temperature leads to higher electrical efficiency and more power outputs. In this paper, heat pipes are used to absorb heat from PV panel for cooling, meanwhile, the absorbed heat is made full use for producing hot water with the combination of heat pump. A heat pipe PV/thermal (PV/T) heat pump system is proposed in this paper. The performance of the system is tested and the electrical performance between PV/T panel and traditional PV panel is compared under the heating mode and heat charging mode. The results show that the daily average values of electrical efficiency, thermal efficiency, COPth and COPPV/T are 12.2%, 33.9%, 2.78 and 3.40 in heating mode respectively, while the values are 12.9%, 25.3%, 1.96 and 2.52 in heat charging mode. The performance of heating mode is better than that of heat charging mode. The electrical efficiency of PV/T panel is improved relatively by 25.7% and 14.2% compared with traditional PV panel under the heating mode and heat charging mode, respectively.