This study provides an insight into the fundamentals of PV performance enhancement under different environmental conditions. The study also presents a new concept of PCM integrated PVT system which has a better performance from both electrical and thermal perspectives. The study employs both analytical and computational techniques to investigate the PV performance under the effect of different parameters such as wind speed, solar radiation level, ambient temperature and additional cooling condition. A parametric analysis of the PCM is also carried out under different solar radiation level, water inlet temperature and flow speed. Additional analysis regarding to the effects of PCM’s thermal physical properties against its thermal performance is also presented. A validation analysis is carried out prior to the parametric analysis to ascertain the reliability of the CFD models used, the prediction result of the CFD model is compared with analytical calculations as well as data from literature. The study found that the active water cooling is the best solution which can provide guaranteed performance enhancement regardless effects of ambient conditions. The novel PVT-PCM system is found to have a noticeable electrical performance enhancement over conventional PV panel as well as having the ability to store a significant amount of thermal energy. It is found that the PVT-PCM system has much lower PV cell temperature (maximum temperature reduction of 36.5°C and 38.3°C respectively) compared to conventional PV systems when used in both Nottingham and Shanghai area, hence provide up to 5.4kWh (5.7kWh in Shanghai) more energy per unit module. The stored thermal energy could be utilized to provide moderate heating to air and/or water. The air preheated by PVT-PCM system could satisfy space heating requirement during April to October in Nottingham without any additional energy consumption. On the other hand, the preheated water could reduce boiler heating energy from up to 20% and 41% respectively for Nottingham and Shanghai climate. The overall performance benefits of the proposed PVT-PCM system could be greater if used in hotter climates. Finally, a cost analysis was carried to prove the whole system is financially feasible for use in both climates of Nottingham and Shanghai with a discounted payback period of 10.67 and 12.83 years respectively.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:748264 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Chen, Tianyu |
| Publisher | University of Nottingham |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49210/ |
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