Development and performance comparison of a modified glazed CPC hybrid solar collector coupled with a bifacial PVT receiver

Innovative concentrating PVT solar collector concepts based on a CPC geometry concept were developed to outperform the asymmetric Solarus CPVT collector and therefore decrease the energy/performance gap between CPVT and PV/ST solar collectors.

The updated reflector geometry proved to be the most suitable reflector geometry for CPVTs, where the electrical peak efficiency per gross area reached 10.6%, which is +16.5%_rel higher than the electrical peak efficiency of the Solarus CPVT. Optical efficiencies of η₀ = 62.3% and η₀ = 61.8% for CPC 1 and CPC 2 have been achieved, respectively.

A PV module (0.5 m²) combined with an ST solar collector (0.5 m²) system to be able to deliver the same overall energy yield as the newly developed CPVT collector (1 m²) requires on average +0.02 m² (at 45 °C), −0.06 m² (at 55 °C) and −0.15 m² (at 65 °C) of installed area, for a wide range of latitudes.

A CPC-PVT system to increase its competitiveness requires a material cost reduction and at the same time an increased overall efficiency. Nevertheless, the energy/performance gap between a system composed of PV + ST technologies and a CPC-PVT decreased significantly.