Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems and its applications

As an enormous potential renewable energy source, solar energy is becoming one of the most important energies which can be utilized in one way by solar cells. In this paper different generations of solar cells have been discussed. The energy balance equations for different configurations have been described. The analytical expressions for electrical efficiencies of opaque and semitransparent PV module with and without water flow have also been given. With water flow on the PV module, η_m is observed to increase. Increment in the η_m has been attributed to dissipation of thermal energy associated with the PV modules due to water flow on it. Based on availability of silicon base PV module, the different applications of PVT systems namely (a) PVT air collector (b) PVT green house dryer (c) PVT integrated solar still (d) PVT water heating system (e) Building integrated photovoltaic thermal (BiPVT) system have been briefly discussed.