Adhikari, “Performance analysis of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector with integrated CPC troughs

An autonomous college under VTU Abstract — As solar energy is the biggest renewable source of energy available on earth and many techniques have been implemented to extract or to convert the energy into another form. The most preferred methods are by using solar thermal collectors and solar photovoltaic panels. The o/p of solar panel is worst affected by the increase in its cell temperature due to absorption of solar thermal radiations, so in order to increase the electrical efficiency as well as thermal efficiency of the panel, an absorber plate along with cooling tubes are attached with water as coolant, which takes away the waste heat generated during the normal operating conditions of the PV panel, there by maintaining the normal operating cell temperature(NOCT) which increases the electrical efficiency. Meanwhile the water which takes away the heat from the panel can be used as a source of hot water for domestic and commercial purposes which increases the thermal efficiency of the panel. Hence the overall efficiency of the panel is the sum of both electrical and thermal efficiency, which is higher than the individual efficiencies of conventional solar water heater and solar PV panel