Concentrating photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) collectors and systems: Theory, performance assessment and applications

Concentrating photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) collectors and systems are very popular in both domestic and industrial solar energy applications. CPVT collectors provides incomparably greater thermal and electrical outputs compared to stand alone PV or hybrid PVT systems as incoming solar energy is maximised inside the unit via energy-efficient concentrators. Within the scope of this paper, a comprehensive review on CPVT collectors and systems is proposed. For an easier assessment of the findings through state-of-the-art analyses on CPVT collectors, the review is presented in a thematic way. Historical overview of the technology is followed by the detailed description of a CPVT collector with main system elements and thermodynamic performance definitions. The review also covers thermal and electrical performance analysis of CPVT collectors using water or air as working fluid, analytical, numerical, simulation and experimental works for performance evaluation of different design configurations of CPVT systems and qualitative analysis of electrical and thermal energy generation. The impacts of concentrator type and concentration ratio on system efficiency, operating temperature and coefficient of performance (COP) are analysed in detail. It is observed from the findings that CPVT collectors are promising devices in market, and they have a good potential to be competitive with conventional power generation systems in the near future.