Thermodynamic assessment of photovoltaic systems

In this paper, an attempt is made to investigate the performance characteristics of a photovoltaic (PV) and photovoltaic-thermal (PV/T) system based on energy and exergy efficiencies, respectively. The PV system converts solar energy into DC electrical energy where as, the PV/T system also utilizes the thermal energy of the solar radiation along with electrical energy generation. Exergy efficiency for PV and PV/T systems is developed that is useful in studying the PV and PV/T performance and possible improvements. Exergy analysis is applied to a PV system and its components, in order to evaluate the exergy flow, losses and various efficiencies namely energy, exergy and power conversion efficiency. Energy efficiency of the system is calculated based on the first law of thermodynamics and the exergy efficiency, which incorporates the second law of thermodynamics and solar irradiation exergy values, is also calculated and found that the latter is lower for the electricity generation using the considered PV system. The values of “fill factor” are also determined for the system and the effect of the fill factor on the efficiencies is also evaluated. The experimental data for a typical day of March (27th March 2006) for New Delhi are used for the calculation of the energy and exergy efficiencies of the PV and PV/T systems. It is found that the energy efficiency varies from a minimum of 33% to a maximum of 45% respectively, the corresponding exergy efficiency (PV/T) varies from a minimum of 11.3% to a maximum of 16% and exergy efficiency (PV) varies from a minimum of 7.8% to a maximum of 13.8%, respectively.