The Comparsion of the Electrical and Thermal Performance of two Different Types of PVTCollectors
Abstract
Photovoltaic-thermal(PVT) collectors are a combination of photovoltaic modules with solar thermal collectors, forming one device that receives solar radiation and produces electricity and heat simultaneously. The PVT collectors can produce more energy per unit surface area than side by side PV modules and solar thermal collectors. There are two types of liquid type PVT collectors, depending on the existence of glass cover over PV module; glass-covered(glazed) PVT collector, which produces relatively more thermal energy but has lower electrical yield, and uncovered(unglazed) PVT collector, which has relatively lower thermal energy with somewhat higher electrical performance. In this paper, the experimental performance of two types of the liquid type PVT collectors, glazed and unglazed, was analyzed. The electrical and thermal performances of the PVT collectors were measured in outdoor conditions, and the results were compared.