Control of a combined photovoltaic/thermal energy system

The utilisation of solar energy can be made by photovoltaic (PV) cells to generate electric power directly and solar thermal (T) panels can be applied to generate heat power. A system is proposed for converting a large portion of the energy, obtained from solar radiation, into electric energy. The combined photovoltaic/thermal panels are connected to a heat/electric energy conversion system that consists of a heat management and a turbine-generator-converter unit, connected to the utility mains or a group of loads. In the paper a part of the simulation studies, carried out to determine the energy balance in the electric energy conversion section of the system is shown in detail. A block diagram developed for studying the energy balance in a system is presented in the paper. Simulation results are presented showing the battery charge vs. time as well as the photovoltaic cell current and the battery current.