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Design and experimental evaluation of a parabolic-trough concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (CPVT) system with high-efficiency cooling

Karathanassis, I. K., Papanicolaou, E., Belessiotis, V. & Bergeles, G. (2017). Design and experimental evaluation of a parabolic-trough concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (CPVT) system with high-efficiency cooling. Renewable Energy, 101, pp. 467-483. doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.09.013

Abstract

The design and performance evaluation of a novel parabolic-trough concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (CPVT) system are discussed in the present study. Initially, the system design and manufacturing procedures as well as the characteristics of the system sub-components are thoroughly illustrated. At a second stage, the findings in regard to the optical quality of the parabolic trough are presented, as obtained through an experimental procedure that utilizes a custom-made measuring device. The device bears a grid of sensors (photodiodes), so that the irradiation distribution on the receiver surface and the achieved concentration ratio can be determined. Besides, the main factors that have a significant effect on the trough optical quality were identified through ray-tracing simulations. The system electrical and thermal performance was subsequently evaluated in a test rig specially developed for that reason. Three variations of the system receiver incorporating different PV-module and heat-sink designs were evaluated and the prototype CPVT system was found to achieve an overall efficiency approximately equal to 50% (44% thermal and 6% electrical efficiencies, respectively) mainly limited by the trough optical quality, however with a very weak dependency on the operating temperature.

Publication Type: Article
Additional Information: © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publisher Keywords: Optical analysis, Ray-tracing, Experimental evaluation, Parabolic trough, CPVT system
Subjects: T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Departments: School of Science & Technology > Engineering
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