A Comparison Study on Energy Performance between Different PV/T Systems and PV System in Highland Cold Winter

This paper aims to investigate the enhancement performance of two different PV/T systems on power generating and space heating in highland cold area in winter, compared to a standard PV system. A comparison system with a same size of PV system, liquid-cooled PV/T system and heat pipe PV/T system has been designed and constructed in Ganzi city, China. The testing on the energy performance of these systems are carried out under real weather condition for several days. The experimental results indicated that the daily average electrical efficiency of the PV system, heat pipe PV/T system and liquid-cooled PV/T system ranges from 11.8% to 13.0%, 11.9% to 12.7%, and 11.7% to 12.7%, respectively, with a similar average value of 12.5%, benefiting to the low ambient temperature of local weather. The average daily heating power, thermal efficiency, and total efficiency of the heat pipe PV/T system range from 780.9 W to 954.6 W, 42.9% to 56.9%, and 52.0% to 66.3%, respectively. While for the liquid-cooled PV/T system, they range from 757.1 W to 846.1 W, 37.4% to 44.2%, and 46.4% to 53.5%, respectively. According to the comparison result, the heat pipe PV/T system has a better energy performance than liquid-cooled type.