Investigation on the effect of different backsheet materials on performance characteristics of a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system

Abstract

Abstract Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) systems are identified as attractive renewable energy technologies for residential and commercial building applications. They provide higher conversion efficiency and better space utilization than independent photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal systems. The collector design and choice of backsheet are of utmost importance for meeting the long-term reliability, life and performance of a PV/T system. Generally, Copper (Cu)/Aluminum (Al) and Tedlar-Polyester-Tedlar (TPT) are utilized for collector design, whereas glass is also identified as potential backsheet material having specific advantages. The present work analyzes the performance of a refrigerant-based PV/T system with three backsheet materials namely Glass, TPT and Cu using a validated numerical model. It was found that PV/T collector with the TPT backsheet has low cell temperature, whereas the collector with Cu backsheet provides the highest coefficient of performance (COP). Besides, the effect of packing factor and thickness of the backsheet on cell temperature and COP was also studied and reported.