A review of concentrated photovoltaic-thermal (CPVT) hybrid solar systems with waste heat recovery (WHR)

Xing Ju; Chao Xu; Zhirong Liao; Xiaoze Du; Gaosheng Wei; Zhifeng Wang; Yongping Yang

doi:10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.002

A review of concentrated photovoltaic-thermal (CPVT) hybrid solar systems with waste heat recovery (WHR)

Sci Bull (Beijing). 2017 Oct 30;62(20):1388-1426. doi: 10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.002. Epub 2017 Oct 9.

Authors

Xing Ju¹, Chao Xu², Zhirong Liao¹, Xiaoze Du¹, Gaosheng Wei¹, Zhifeng Wang³, Yongping Yang¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment of Ministry of Education, School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China.
² Key Laboratory of Condition Monitoring and Control for Power Plant Equipment of Ministry of Education, School of Energy Power and Mechanical Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China. Electronic address: mechxu@ncepu.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Solar Thermal Energy and Photovoltaic Systems, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.

PMID: 36659374
DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2017.10.002

Abstract

In conventional photovoltaic (PV) systems, a large portion of solar energy is dissipated as waste heat since the generating efficiency is usually less than 30%. As the dissipated heat can be recovered for various applications, the wasted heat recovery concentrator PV/thermal (WHR CPVT) hybrid systems have been developed. They can provide both electricity and usable heat by combining thermal systems with concentrator PV (CPV) module, which dramatically improves the overall conversion efficiency of solar energy. This paper systematically and comprehensively reviews the research and development of WHR CPVT systems. WHR CPVT systems with innovative design configurations, different theoretical evaluation models and experimental test processes for several implementations are presented in an integrated manner. We aim to provide a global point of view on the research trends, market potential, technical obstacles, and the future work which is required in the development of WHR CPVT technology. Possibly, it will offer a generic guide to the investigators who are interested in the study of WHR CPVT systems.

Keywords: Concentration; Concentrator photovoltaic/thermal; Hybrid solar system; Photovoltaic/thermal; Waste heat recovery.

Publication types

Review