Optimising concentrated thermal photovoltaic energy systems for green and sustainable energy generation

Abstract

Electricity generated from a concentrated thermal photovoltaic system can be improved upon for opti-mum output. This investigation considered the vari-ous options of optimising system operation via effec-tive control of the operating conditions. It examined various options of varying the system configurations for optimised system efficiency and power output and at minimum operating costs. The number of mirrors and photovoltaic cells for use in the concen-trated thermal photovoltaic system were set at eight as standard for the system operation. This number was varied down and up (from eight to six and then from eight to ten) to study the effects of these varia-tions on the concentrated thermal photovoltaic sys-tem efficiency and generated power output. A novel thermal model was built in two dimensions and was used to simulate the thermal performance of the concentrated thermal photovoltaic modules. The pa-rameters used for the materials involved were de-fined and the appropriate physics applied in the study of various operating conditions that affected the system performance for the two-dimensional system were stated. The results showed that temper-ature rise was least in the ten mirrors configuration and highest in the six mirrors configuration. The six PV cells-mirrors configuration, however, generated the highest power output of the three different con-figurations considered. The six PV cells/mirrors con-figuration utilised the least numbers of mirrors and PV cells out of the three configurations, ultimately translating to reduced-materials cost for the opera-tion. Based on these findings, the choice of the lower number of six mirrors and six PV cells was consid-ered the most economical and, therefore, most de-sirable.