Current status and future development of hybrid PV/T system with PCM module: 4E (energy, exergy, economic and environmental) assessments

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) with phase change material (PCM) technology is one of the incentive research areas in renewable energy application aspect, which attracts increasingly attention in the globalized market to tackle climate change. The PV/T tube configuration and working fluid are investigated in this study to enable this technology become a superior candidate in energy systems, various interior tubes (such as micro-channel tube, winglets tape tube, wave tape tube, twisted tap tube, conical leaf tube and adding metal fins) and novel PCMs (including composite PCM, nano-PCM and their combination) are reviewed. The thermal regulation strategies, optimization methods and advanced nocturnal radiative cooling systems are inspected as well. Moreover, the PV/T system exergy, economic and environmental assessments are conducted. Furthermore, the perspectives, suggestions and future developments of the PV/T system with PCM module are explored to conquer the challenges and obstacles for the practical application. It is concluded that electrical efficiency of the PV/T system with PCM module could be increased about 3–5%, whereas the system thermal efficiency is improved around 20–30%, and the system cost could be reduced in the range of 15–20% resulting in less 6-year of payback period compared with those of the conventional PV/T system.