IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v315y2022ics0306261922004524.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

MCRT-FDTD investigation of the solar-plasmonic-electrical conversion for uniform irradiation in a spectral splitting CPVT system

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, J.J.
  • Qu, Z.G.
  • Zhang, J.F.

Abstract

Concentrating photovoltaic-thermal systems with the spectral splitting technology are promising methods for full-spectral use of solar energy, but the nonuniform irradiation on solar cells are the main problem for their applications. To improve the uniformity of solar irradiation, the distribution features with combined spectral splitting and energy fitting are explored. A parabolic concentrating photovoltaic-thermal system, which has two symmetrical spectral splitting filters and one primary concentrator, is proposed for full-spectral solar utilization. A multiscale-multiphysics MCRT-FDTD model has been built for solar-plasmonic-electrical conversion containing concentrated sunlight propagation and plasmonic photoelectrical conversion. The proposed model has been validated by the local concentration ratio with a photovoltaic/thermochemical hybrid system. The system energy distribution was obtained by conducting a Monte-Carlo ray-trace method, and the finite-difference-time domain method is applied to the plasmonic solar cell for wavelength-dependent absorption. The position relationships between the reflector elements (primary concentrator, spectral splitting filter) and the energy conversion elements (solar cell, thermal absorber) have been thoroughly investigated. Results show that the shading loss is found to be the dominant energy loss. For the solar cell, the local concentration ratio presents peak, linear decrease, sharp decrease, and flat regions. For the absorber, the local concentration ratio presents an “M” profile with five irradiation regions. High and uniform concentrating irradiation is achieved for the solar cell with the improved linear decrease region. The electrical efficiency and fill factor of the plasmonic solar cell are obtained, and a maximum electrical efficiency of 22.64% is achieved. This work provides a theoretical guidance for improved plasmonic solar cells with the uniform irradiation in concentrating photovoltaic-thermal systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, J.J. & Qu, Z.G. & Zhang, J.F., 2022. "MCRT-FDTD investigation of the solar-plasmonic-electrical conversion for uniform irradiation in a spectral splitting CPVT system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:315:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922004524
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119054
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261922004524
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2022.119054?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Otanicar, Todd P. & Theisen, Stephen & Norman, Tyler & Tyagi, Himanshu & Taylor, Robert A., 2015. "Envisioning advanced solar electricity generation: Parametric studies of CPV/T systems with spectral filtering and high temperature PV," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 224-233.
    2. He, Ya-Ling & Zhou, Yi-Peng & Hu, Yi-huang & Hung, Tzu-Chen, 2020. "A multiscale-multiphysics integrated model to investigate the coupling effects of non-uniform illumination on concentrated photovoltaic system with nanostructured front surface," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    3. Han, Xue & Zhao, Guankun & Xu, Chao & Ju, Xing & Du, Xiaoze & Yang, Yongping, 2017. "Parametric analysis of a hybrid solar concentrating photovoltaic/concentrating solar power (CPV/CSP) system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 520-533.
    4. Cheng, Z.D. & He, Y.L. & Cui, F.Q., 2013. "A new modelling method and unified code with MCRT for concentrating solar collectors and its applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 686-698.
    5. Wang, Ao & Xuan, Yimin, 2020. "Multiscale prediction of localized hot-spot phenomena in solar cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 1292-1300.
    6. Cheng, Z.D. & He, Y.L. & Cui, F.Q. & Du, B.C. & Zheng, Z.J. & Xu, Y., 2014. "Comparative and sensitive analysis for parabolic trough solar collectors with a detailed Monte Carlo ray-tracing optical model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 559-572.
    7. Renzi, Massimiliano & Cioccolanti, Luca & Barazza, Giorgio & Egidi, Lorenzo & Comodi, Gabriele, 2017. "Design and experimental test of refractive secondary optics on the electrical performance of a 3-junction cell used in CPV systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 233-243.
    8. Chen, Xingyu & Zhou, Ping & Yan, Hongjie & Chen, Meijie, 2021. "Systematically investigating solar absorption performance of plasmonic nanoparticles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    9. Qu, Wanjun & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2019. "A spectral splitting solar concentrator for cascading solar energy utilization by integrating photovoltaics and solar thermal fuel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 162-173.
    10. Ju, Xing & Xu, Chao & Han, Xue & Du, Xiaoze & Wei, Gaosheng & Yang, Yongping, 2017. "A review of the concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (CPVT) hybrid solar systems based on the spectral beam splitting technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 534-563.
    11. Stanley, Cameron & Mojiri, Ahmad & Rahat, Mirza & Blakers, Andrew & Rosengarten, Gary, 2016. "Performance testing of a spectral beam splitting hybrid PVT solar receiver for linear concentrators," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 303-313.
    12. Mazzeo, Domenico & Oliveti, Giuseppe & Baglivo, Cristina & Congedo, Paolo M., 2018. "Energy reliability-constrained method for the multi-objective optimization of a photovoltaic-wind hybrid system with battery storage," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 688-708.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chen, Xingyu & Chen, Meijie & Zhou, Ping, 2022. "Solar-thermal conversion performance of heterogeneous nanofluids," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 1307-1317.
    2. Cesar Lucio & Omar Behar & Bassam Dally, 2023. "Techno-Economic Assessment of CPVT Spectral Splitting Technology: A Case Study on Saudi Arabia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-23, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qu, Wanjun & Xing, Xueli & Cao, Yali & Liu, Taixiu & Hong, Hui & Jin, Hongguang, 2020. "A concentrating solar power system integrated photovoltaic and mid-temperature solar thermochemical processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    2. Wang, Gang & Wang, Fasi & Shen, Fan & Chen, Zeshao & Hu, Peng, 2019. "Novel design and thermodynamic analysis of a solar concentration PV and thermal combined system based on compact linear Fresnel reflector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 133-148.
    3. Li, Jinyu & Yang, Zhengda & Wang, Yiya & Dong, Qiwei & Qi, Shitao & Huang, Chenxing & Wang, Xinwei & Lin, Riyi, 2023. "A novel non-confocal two-stage dish concentrating photovoltaic/thermal hybrid system utilizing spectral beam splitting technology: Optical and thermal performance investigations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 609-622.
    4. Lamnatou, Chr. & Vaillon, R. & Parola, S. & Chemisana, D., 2021. "Photovoltaic/thermal systems based on concentrating and non-concentrating technologies: Working fluids at low, medium and high temperatures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Wang, Gang & Yao, Yubo & Lin, Jianqing & Chen, Zeshao & Hu, Peng, 2020. "Design and thermodynamic analysis of a novel solar CPV and thermal combined system utilizing spectral beam splitter," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 1091-1102.
    6. Widyolar, Bennett & Jiang, Lun & Winston, Roland, 2018. "Spectral beam splitting in hybrid PV/T parabolic trough systems for power generation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 236-250.
    7. Wang, Gang & Yao, Yubo & Chen, Zeshao & Hu, Peng, 2019. "Thermodynamic and optical analyses of a hybrid solar CPV/T system with high solar concentrating uniformity based on spectral beam splitting technology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 256-266.
    8. Pan, Xinyu & Ju, Xing & Yuan, Mengdi & Xu, Chao & Du, Xiaoze, 2023. "Energy tracing of solar cells for spectral-beam-splitting photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    9. Wang, Bingzheng & Lu, Xiaofei & Zhang, Cancan & Wang, Hongsheng, 2022. "Cascade and hybrid processes for co-generating solar-based fuels and electricity via combining spectral splitting technology and membrane reactor," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 782-799.
    10. Alois Resch & Robert Höller, 2023. "Optical Modelling of a Linear Fresnel Concentrator for the Development of a Spectral Splitting Concentrating Photovoltaic Thermal Receiver," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-20, July.
    11. Cheng, Ze-Dong & He, Ya-Ling & Qiu, Yu, 2015. "A detailed nonuniform thermal model of a parabolic trough solar receiver with two halves and two inactive ends," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 139-147.
    12. Wang, Kun & He, Ya-Ling & Qiu, Yu & Zhang, Yuwen, 2016. "A novel integrated simulation approach couples MCRT and Gebhart methods to simulate solar radiation transfer in a solar power tower system with a cavity receiver," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 93-107.
    13. Ju, Xing & Pan, Xinyu & Zhang, Zheyang & Xu, Chao & Wei, Gaosheng, 2019. "Thermal and electrical performance of the dense-array concentrating photovoltaic (DA-CPV) system under non-uniform illumination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 904-915.
    14. Liang, Hongbo & Fan, Man & You, Shijun & Zheng, Wandong & Zhang, Huan & Ye, Tianzhen & Zheng, Xuejing, 2017. "A Monte Carlo method and finite volume method coupled optical simulation method for parabolic trough solar collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 60-68.
    15. Huang, Weidong & Yu, Liang & Hu, Peng, 2019. "An analytical solution for the solar flux density produced by a round focusing heliostat," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 306-320.
    16. Brekke, Nick & Dale, John & DeJarnette, Drew & Hari, Parameswar & Orosz, Matthew & Roberts, Kenneth & Tunkara, Ebrima & Otanicar, Todd, 2018. "Detailed performance model of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal system utilizing selective spectral nanofluid absorption," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 683-693.
    17. Huang, Weidong & Sun, Lulening, 2016. "Solar flux density calculation for a heliostat with an elliptical Gaussian distribution source," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 434-441.
    18. Chang, Chun & Sciacovelli, Adriano & Wu, Zhiyong & Li, Xin & Li, Yongliang & Zhao, Mingzhi & Deng, Jie & Wang, Zhifeng & Ding, Yulong, 2018. "Enhanced heat transfer in a parabolic trough solar receiver by inserting rods and using molten salt as heat transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 337-350.
    19. Zou, Bin & Yao, Yang & Jiang, Yiqiang & Yang, Hongxing, 2018. "A new algorithm for obtaining the critical tube diameter and intercept factor of parabolic trough solar collectors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 451-467.
    20. Bicer, Yusuf & Sprotte, André Felipe Vitorio & Dincer, Ibrahim, 2017. "Concentrated solar light splitting using cold mirrors for photovoltaics and photonic hydrogen production applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 169-182.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:315:y:2022:i:c:s0306261922004524. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.