A New Hybrid System Design for Thermal Energy Storage

Due to some serious environmental problems like global warming and greenhouse effect, studies on solar energy systems are being conducted all over the world. The studies conducted in recent years are on hybrid designs in which solar energy systems can realize both electricity and heat production at the same time. In this way, both electrical energy and heat energy can be generated from the same system In this study, the design and analysis of a concentrated solar air collector with a heat storage unit were carried out.. In the solar air collector, heat energy was depot in paraffin wax, and the electrical energy which was stored in the battery using the PV (photovoltaic) modules in the system enabled the operation of the system fan. The experiments which aimed at determining system performance were carried out in winter when the ambient temperature was low. The experiments were performed with or without a heat storage unit, and a comparative analysis was made. It was found that the temperature of the air released from the collector ranged from 15°C to 40°C when the exterior temperature was −5°C. The average efficiency of the concentrated system without the heat storage unit was calculated as 67%. The average efficiency of the concentrated system with the heat storage unit was calculated as 96%.