Thermal analysis of PV/T evaporator of a solar-assisted heat pump

The performance of photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) solar collector had been studied theoretically and experimentally for some years. Air and water streams were used as the heat carriers for space heating or services hot water systems. The cooling effect allows the PV module to work at lower temperature and its PV efficiency is therefore improved. However, such an advantage diminishes when the solar irradiance is high. To improve the situation a new type of PV/T collector is proposed. It works as the evaporator of a heat pump, in that refrigerant evaporates in the tubing at the back of the flat-plate collector and the PV module is adhered to the front surface. Mathematical models were developed to simulate the complex energy conversion processes. Numerical analysis was then performed based on the distributed parameters approach. An experimental rig was also built to test its real performance. Our results showed that the PV/T evaporator had an overall efficiency in the range of 0.64-0.87, thermal efficiency 0.53-0.64 and PV efficiency 0.124-0.135. The simulation results were found in good agreement with the experiment measurements. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.