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Experimental study on a novel photovoltaic thermal system using amorphous silicon cells deposited on stainless steel

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  • Li, Jing
  • Ren, Xiao
  • Yuan, Weiqi
  • Li, Zhaomeng
  • Pei, Gang
  • Su, Yuehong
  • Kutlu, Çağrı
  • Ji, Jie
  • Riffat, Saffa

Abstract

Amorphous silicon (a-Si) cells are able to perform better as temperature increases due to the effect of thermal annealing. a-Si cells have great potential to solve or ease the problems of high power temperature coefficient, large thermal stress caused by temperature fluctuation and gradient, and thick layer of conventional crystalline silicon cell-related photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collectors. In this paper, an innovative a-Si PV/T system is developed. It is the first time that a-Si cells deposited on stainless steel have been used in a practical PV/T system. The system comprises of two PV/T collectors. In each collector, there are 8 pieces of solar cells in series. Long-term outdoor performance has been monitored. Experimental results on the thermal efficiency (ηth), electrical efficiency (ηPV) and I-V characteristic are presented. The peak instantaneous ηth,p was about 42.49% with the maximum ηPV,p of 5.92% on April 2, 2017. The daily average ηth,a and ηPV,a were 32.8% and 5.58%. Accordingly, ηth,p, ηPV,p, ηth,a and ηPV,a on October 27 were 43.47%, 5.69%, 38.65% and 5.22%. During more than half a year operation, no technical failure of the system has been observed. The feasibility of the a-Si PV/T is preliminarily demonstrated by the prototype.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Jing & Ren, Xiao & Yuan, Weiqi & Li, Zhaomeng & Pei, Gang & Su, Yuehong & Kutlu, Çağrı & Ji, Jie & Riffat, Saffa, 2018. "Experimental study on a novel photovoltaic thermal system using amorphous silicon cells deposited on stainless steel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 786-798.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:159:y:2018:i:c:p:786-798
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.06.127
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    3. Ren, Xiao & Li, Jing & Jiao, Dongsheng & Gao, Datong & Pei, Gang, 2020. "Temperature-dependent performance of amorphous silicon photovoltaic/thermal systems in the long term operation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    4. Ren, Xiao & Li, Jing & Hu, Mingke & Pei, Gang & Jiao, Dongsheng & Zhao, Xudong & Ji, Jie, 2019. "Feasibility of an innovative amorphous silicon photovoltaic/thermal system for medium temperature applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Ren, Xiao & Li, Jing & Gao, Datong & Wu, Lijun & Pei, Gang, 2021. "Analysis of a novel photovoltaic/thermal system using InGaN/GaN MQWs cells in high temperature applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 11-20.
    6. Li, Senji & Chen, Zhenwu & Liu, Xing & Zhang, Xiaochun & Zhou, Yong & Gu, Wenbo & Ma, Tao, 2021. "Numerical simulation of a novel pavement integrated photovoltaic thermal (PIPVT) module," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).

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