An integrated photovoltaic thermal solar (IPVTS) system with earth water heat exchanger cooling: Energy and exergy analysis

Abstract

In the current paper, a new hybrid system is investigated in which integrated photovoltaic thermal solar system (IPVTS) is coupled with earth water heat exchanger (EWHE). The performance of such coupled system is evaluated analytically by developing a theoretical model and validated experimentally on an experimental set-up installed in Pilani, India. Further to identify the grey areas for the improvement and to utilize the maximum energy, second law thermodynamic analysis of coupled system has been carried out in terms of exergy losses and exergy destructions. An electrical efficiency comparison was made between the PV panel connected to the broad water channel cooling and normal PV panel. The results show that with EWHE cooling, there is increase in experimental electrical efficiency of IPVTS by 1.02–1.41% as compared to without cooling. The second law analysis for two different scenarios was carried out. The second law analysis shows that the exergetic efficiency for a first scenario varies from 8.50% to 8.75%; while for the second scenario, it ranges from 8.16% to 8.54%. The analysis provides the feasibility of IPVTS coupled with EWHE system which could be used for the semi-arid regions of North-West India.