A transmissive, spectrum-splitting concentrating photovoltaic module for hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal energy conversion
Abstract
Here, a spectrum splitting, transmissive concentrating photovoltaic (tCPV) module is proposed and designed for a hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal(PV/T) system. This module enables the system to more fully utilize the full spectrum of incoming sunlight. By utilizing III-V triple junction solar cells with bandgaps of 2.1eV/1.7eV/1.4eVin the module, ultraviolet (UV) and visible light will be absorbed and converted to electricity, while infrared (IR) light will pass through and be captured by a solar thermal receiver and stored as heat. The stored heat energy may be dispatched as electricity or process heat, as needed.Numerical analysis based on the Finite Elemental Method (FEM), ray tracing, circuit analysis, device modelling, and more is employed to design this tCPV module. According to these simulations, the tCPV module can perform with overall power conversion efficiency exceeding 43.5% for above bandgap (in-band)light under a standard AM1.5D solar spectrum, under an average concentration ratio of 400 suns.Passive and active cooling methods, keeping cells below 110°C, are also investigated and discussed, indicating that a transparent active cooling design could improve the CPV module efficiency by around 1%(absolute), relative to a passive design,by reducing the maximum cell working temperature by ~16°C. Furthermore, cost analysis shows that installation cost of aroundmore »
- Authors:
-
- Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA (United States)
- Boeing-Spectrolab Inc., Sylmar, CA (United States)
- Otherlab, San Francisco, CA (United States)
- Univ. of San Diego, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Tulane Univ., New Orleans, LA (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1461971
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1397377
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AR0000473
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Solar Energy
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 137; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0038-092X
- Publisher:
- Elsevier
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 14 SOLAR ENERGY; Concentrating photovoltaic; Multijunction solar cells; Photovoltaic solar-thermal system; Cost analysis
Citation Formats
Xu, Qi, Ji, Yaping, Riggs, Brian, Ollanik, Adam, Farrar-Foley, Nicholas, Ermer, Jim H., Romanin, Vince, Lynn, Pete, Codd, Daniel, and Escarra, Matthew D. A transmissive, spectrum-splitting concentrating photovoltaic module for hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal energy conversion. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.057.
Xu, Qi, Ji, Yaping, Riggs, Brian, Ollanik, Adam, Farrar-Foley, Nicholas, Ermer, Jim H., Romanin, Vince, Lynn, Pete, Codd, Daniel, & Escarra, Matthew D. A transmissive, spectrum-splitting concentrating photovoltaic module for hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal energy conversion. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.057
Xu, Qi, Ji, Yaping, Riggs, Brian, Ollanik, Adam, Farrar-Foley, Nicholas, Ermer, Jim H., Romanin, Vince, Lynn, Pete, Codd, Daniel, and Escarra, Matthew D. Wed .
"A transmissive, spectrum-splitting concentrating photovoltaic module for hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal energy conversion". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.057. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1461971.
@article{osti_1461971,
title = {A transmissive, spectrum-splitting concentrating photovoltaic module for hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal energy conversion},
author = {Xu, Qi and Ji, Yaping and Riggs, Brian and Ollanik, Adam and Farrar-Foley, Nicholas and Ermer, Jim H. and Romanin, Vince and Lynn, Pete and Codd, Daniel and Escarra, Matthew D.},
abstractNote = {Here, a spectrum splitting, transmissive concentrating photovoltaic (tCPV) module is proposed and designed for a hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal(PV/T) system. This module enables the system to more fully utilize the full spectrum of incoming sunlight. By utilizing III-V triple junction solar cells with bandgaps of 2.1eV/1.7eV/1.4eVin the module, ultraviolet (UV) and visible light will be absorbed and converted to electricity, while infrared (IR) light will pass through and be captured by a solar thermal receiver and stored as heat. The stored heat energy may be dispatched as electricity or process heat, as needed.Numerical analysis based on the Finite Elemental Method (FEM), ray tracing, circuit analysis, device modelling, and more is employed to design this tCPV module. According to these simulations, the tCPV module can perform with overall power conversion efficiency exceeding 43.5% for above bandgap (in-band)light under a standard AM1.5D solar spectrum, under an average concentration ratio of 400 suns.Passive and active cooling methods, keeping cells below 110°C, are also investigated and discussed, indicating that a transparent active cooling design could improve the CPV module efficiency by around 1%(absolute), relative to a passive design,by reducing the maximum cell working temperature by ~16°C. Furthermore, cost analysis shows that installation cost of around 1.9/W–2.2/W could be reached for the tCPV based PV/T system,which shows a competitive economic advantage compared to a more conventional PV with battery system.},
doi = {10.1016/j.solener.2016.08.057},
journal = {Solar Energy},
number = C,
volume = 137,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed Sep 21 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Web of Science
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Works referencing / citing this record:
Novel Design of Primary Optical Elements Based on a Linear Fresnel Lens for Concentrator Photovoltaic Technology
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Hydrogen from solar energy, a clean energy carrier from a sustainable source of energy
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