Design, Characterization and Performance Evaluation of PVT Solar Collector in Tropical Area

摘要

Solar energy is the most recognized diversified renewable energy from which the production can be extracted into electrical and thermal energy. The aim of the present work is to evaluate the energy efficiency of a thermal-photovoltaic collector with cooling system. It is a question of estimating the difference between the energy necessary for the cooling and the gain in power of the PV/T system. For this, a PV/T collector is designed and builds at the Laboratory of Energetic and Applied Thermals (LEAT) of ENSAI of the Ngaoundere University. A measurement campaign was carried out during the months of March to April 2015. During tests, the collector was orientated south and inclined at an angle of 30° compared to the horizontal. The analysis allowed us to design and size the hybrid PV/T collector. The energy balance method (electrical and thermal balance) was used to determine the electrical and thermal performance of the PV module. A comparison between the hybrid PV/T system and conventional PV panel has been done. The results show that in natural convection, the surface temperature of the cells was 65°C and 61°C respectively for the PV/T and conventional PV panel. The electrical efficiency of conventional PV panel was 9.17% while that of hybrid PV/T system was 7.35%. For 1012 W/m2 insulation and a PV module temperature of 65°C, the hybrid PV/T system electrical power was 31 W with a thermal power of 457 W. A return of thermal efficiency of 75% which gives a global efficiency of the hybrid PV/T system of 82%.