INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC AND THERMAL SOLAR ENERGY CONVERTER

Abstract

The utilization of solar energy is essential to curb climate change, reduce dependence on finite fossil fuel reserves, and achieve energy independence. The leading existing technologies for the use of solar radiation are the photovoltaic (PV) conversion of light directly into electricity and the thermal conversion of solar rays into heat. The main problem with solar energy is efficiently collecting this energy and cost-effectively converting it into other useful forms. The existing solar energy systems are still expensive.

The other problem is the decreased efficiency of PV modules at high working temperatures. It is well known, that in PV solar cells, mostly made of silicon, most of the absorbed solar radiation (about 80%) is not converted into electricity but contributes to increasing the temperature of solar cells, then reducing the electrical efficiency of cells. This is the inherent drawback feature of solar cells - degradation in performance due to temperature.

Aiming to reduce the cost of solar converters and to increase solar energy transfor- mation efficiency, a new type of Photovoltaic and Thermal (PVT) hybrid solar energy converter is developed in the research laboratory “Photovoltaic Semiconductor Devices” at National Polytechnic University of Armenia. Different innovative approaches are used in developing PVT converters. The prototype of a new type of PVT converter is prepared and tested. The new PVT converter has several advantages in comparison with general PV modules and PV module-based PVT collectors. The production of the developed new PVT collectors is cheap and can be realized using standard off-the-shelf technologies.