A methodology for predicting hybrid solar panel performance in different operating modes

When a hybrid solar panel produces thermal energy, it can operate in either hybrid mode, or thermal only mode. In hybrid mode, the panel produces both electrical power and thermal power, and in thermal-only mode, only thermal power is produced. It has been shown that the thermal performance of a hybrid panel can vary by 15% on average between these two modes, but panel manufacturers are only required to publish performance data for one mode. Other studies in the literature have found a difference in panel thermal performance between these two modes, but they do not discuss a methodology to estimate alternate mode performance using manufacturer-supplied data. To alleviate this gap in the literature, this study presents a novel methodology to estimate alternate mode thermal performance of a hybrid solar panel only using manufacturer-supplied data. To match the panel information that is typically available, the second-order thermal efficiency model is used to estimate thermal performance, and temperature dependent electrical characteristics are used to estimate electrical performance. Indoor testing using a solar simulator was carried out, and the detailed test results are included. Results show that using the proposed modification technique can estimate thermal performance within 4% of actual values on average. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.