Periodic Reporting for period 1 - a-Si PVT-ORC (A novel amorphous silicon cell-based solar cogeneration system using the coupled thermal storage/organic Rankine cycle as an alternative to battery)
Période du rapport: 2017-01-10 au 2019-01-09
The a-Si PVT-ORC system has the potential to be more cost-effective than sole PVT or solar ORC systems. Compared with the c-Si PVT system, it has additional power output (WORC) but more initial investment on ORC and heat storage. The cost of water storage shall be small. The ORC working at about 120°C is already commercialized in the fields of geothermal power generation and waste heat recovery, and the payback period is expected to be less than 5 years. The a-Si PVT-ORC system has an overall electrical efficiency close to that of c-Si PVT at 75°C, which is about 12.8% as shown subsequently. Particularly, it is resilient via thermal storage, and expensive battery is eliminated or greatly reduced. Compared with a sole solar ORC system, the a-Si PVT-ORC system has the integrated PVT collector to provide heat for the ORC, and this will make solar ORC more cost-effective regarding the highly increased solar power efficiency.
The project aims to investigate a medium temperature photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) system incorporated with the coupled thermal storage/organic Rankine cycle (ORC) as a novel alternative to battery. The overall scientific objectives are: (1) Experiments of a-Si cell performance and its stability at the temperature up to 150°C. (2) Prototype development of a-Si PVT collector for medium-high temperature application. (3) Feasibility demonstration of fast prototyping of small scale turbine by 3D printing technology. (4) Modelling of a-Si cell, PVT collector, ORC, and the whole system. (5) Economic and environmental assessment of the a-Si PVT-ORC system.
Through the development of the project, it is concluded that the a-Si PV/T system is technically feasible and promising especially in tri-generation applications.
Aside from the above work packages as agreed in the Annex 1 to the Grant Agreement, additional works have been done during the reporting period.