Low cost solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collector using aluminum minichannels and nonimaging optics

Bennett K. Widyolar; Lun Jiang; Jordyn Brinkley; Sai Kiran Hota; Jonathan Ferry; Gerardo Diaz; Roland Winston

doi:10.1117/12.2570838

20 August 2020 Low cost solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collector using aluminum minichannels and nonimaging optics

Bennett K. Widyolar, Lun Jiang, Jordyn Brinkley, Sai Kiran Hota, Jonathan Ferry, Gerardo Diaz, Roland Winston

Proceedings Volume 11495, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XVII; 114950O (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2570838
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2020, Online Only

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic / thermal (PVT) technologies are well suited to provide distributed and renewable electricity, space heating, and hot water in buildings. The high cost of current PVT technologies, however, remains a barrier to implementation as they compete for roof space with low cost PV. To reduce costs, a new kind of PVT collector has been developed which replaces traditional packaging materials with a low cost nonimaging optic and thermally efficient aluminum minichannel. A 20-tube (~2.4 m² aperture) prototype has been fabricated, demonstrating 57.4% thermal efficiency and 12.3% electric efficiency at 20 °C, with a stagnation temperature of ~80 °C. Based on this data we estimate the PVT collector will generate 226 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 603 kWh of heat per square meter each year for a solar resource of 5.5 kWh/m²/day. In doing so, each installed square meter will replace 1280 kWh of natural gas consumption and 183.8 kg of CO₂ emissions. Technical performance is comparable with commercial PVT systems today, but with a much lower estimated module cost of $81/m² ($0.54/WDC). A side-by-side analysis indicates the PVT system would cost 15% less and use 30% less roof space than an equivalently sized PV+T system.

Conference Presentation

Citation Download Citation

Bennett K. Widyolar, Lun Jiang, Jordyn Brinkley, Sai Kiran Hota, Jonathan Ferry, Gerardo Diaz, and Roland Winston "Low cost solar photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) collector using aluminum minichannels and nonimaging optics", Proc. SPIE 11495, Nonimaging Optics: Efficient Design for Illumination and Solar Concentration XVII, 114950O (20 August 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2570838

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