Cooling Arrangements for Hybrid Thermal-CPV Receivers with High Output Coolant Temperature for Combined Electricity Generation and Water Desalination

摘要

Human civilization uses vast quantities of water and electricity. Natural fresh water is in short supply in many regions, and the shortfall is increasingly filled through energy-intensive desalination. Electricity still largely comes from burning fossil fuels, resulting in CO 2 emissions. Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) can provide not only electricity but also heat from cooling of the CPV cells, providing additional energy for thermally driven processes such as desalination. This paper evaluates a CPV receiver cooling arrangement for linear CPV systems which maximizes electricity production for a given CPV cell area while supplying heat byproduct boosted to a temperature higher than the temperature of the fluid that cools the CPV cells, increasing the range of processes to which the heat can be applied.