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

Author Affiliations +

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

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

;

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE