Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Background 1
1.2 Description of the novel PV/T heat pump system 4
1.3 Work involved in the study 7
Chapter 2 Review of PV/T technology 10
2.1 Commercial PV materials 10
2.2 PV/T Collectors 12
2.2.1 Air-type PV/T collectors 12
2.2.2 Water-type PV/T collectors 17
2.2.3 Dual-type PV/T collectors 22
2.3 BIPVT 28
2.3.1 Air-type BIPVT 28
2.3.2 Water-type BIPVT 29
2.4 Concentrating PV/T collectors 32
2.5 PV/T heat pump system 36
2.6 Summary 38
Chapter 3 Numerical simulation on energy performance of GVT and FP PV/T heat pump systems 45
3.1 PV/T panel configurations 45
3.2 Numerical models for GVT PV/T heat pump system 47
3.2.1 Glass vacuum tube(external) 47
3.2.2 Glass vacuum tube(internal) 49
3.2.3 PV module 51
3.2.4 Aluminium sheet 52
3.2.5 Copper tube 54
3.2.6 Refrigerant 55
3.2.7 Compressor 55
3.2.8 Expansion valve 56
3.2.9 Water-cooled condenser 57
3.3 Numerical models for FP PV/T heat pump system 57
3.3.1 Glass cover 57
3.3.2 PV module 59
3.3.3 Aluminium sheet 59
3.3.4 Copper tube 60
3.3.5 Refrigerant 61
3.4 Performance comparison between GVT and FP PV/T heat pump systems 61
3.4.1 Variation ofthermal efficiency with solar radiation 61
3.4.2 Variation of electrical efficiency with solar radiation 62
3.4.3 Variation of power output with solar radiation 63
3.4.4 Variation of COP with solar radiation 64
3.4.5 Variation of condenser capacity with solar radiation 64
3.5 Performance comparison of GVT PV/T heat pump system in different cities 65
3.5.1 Climatic data 66
3.5.2 Results and analysis 67
3.6 Summary 70
Chapter 4 Experimental study on GVT PV/T heat pump system 73
4.1 Test on the performance of PV modules without cooling 73
4.1.1 Test rig 73
4.1.2 Test results 75
4.2 Test on the performance of GVT PV/T heat pump system 77
4.2.1 Test rig 77
4.2.2 Measuring equipment 83
4.2.3 Performance assessment and experiment implementation 86
4.2.4 Test results 88
4.2.5 Comparison between the test and simulation results 94
4.3 Summary 96
Chapter 5 Experimental study on FP PV/T heat pump system using PV tiles 98
5.1 Experimental rig 98
5.2 Results and discussions 99
5.3 Summary 106
Chapter 6 Operation strategy and economic analysis of PV/T heat pump system 108
6.1 Operation strategy 108
6.1.1 PV electricity management 108
6.1.2 Heat energy management 111
6.2 Economic analysis 113
6.2.1 Basic information and assumptions 113
6.2.2 Energy and running cost savings calculation 114
6.2.3 Investment and pay-back time calculation 115
6.3 Environmental analysis 116
6.4 Summary 117
Chapter 7 Conclusions and further work 119
7.1 Conclusions 119
7.1.1 Numerical simulation on energy performance of the GVT and FP PV/T heat pump systems 119
7.1.2 Experimental study on the GVT PV/T heat pump system 120
7.1.3 Experimental study on the FP PV/T heat pump system 121
7.1.4 Operation strategy and economic analysis of the GVT PV/T heatpump system 122
7.2 Further work 123
Nomenclature 125