Water Based Hybrid Photovoltaic and Thermal (PV/T) Flat Plate Solar Collectors: Status and Opportunities.

Abstract

The concept of water based Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) system is founded on the premise of temperature reduction of PV units for efficiency enhancement, a noble idea that originated in the late 1970’s.  PV/T technology combines PVs and solar thermal components into a unitary module to enhance the solar conversion efficiency and make economic use of the space. Mechanisms of absorbing and transferring the residual heat dissipated because of exposure of solar cells to solar radiation have been designed in different configurations and dimensions optimized by different researchers. This study extensively revealed the idea of water heating using this technology, extent of past and ongoing research studies based on the theoretical and analytical techniques, experimental, modeling and simulation, economic and environmental assessments. The outcome of this study enables a better understanding of the status of the PV/T technological enhancements, identification of the impending problems and obstacles, existing standards and regulations with regard to PV/T design and installation, areas of application and the potential research opportunities for further improvements in the performance of the PV/T.