THERMAL STORAGE OF ENERGY CAPTURED BY HYBRID SOLAR COLLECTORS

Hybrid solar collectors PVT combine photovoltaic solar cells, which convert sunlight into electricity, with a solar thermal collector, which transfers the otherwise unused waste heat from the PV module to a heat transfer fluid. By combining electricity and heat generation within the same component, these technologies can reach a higher overall efficiency than solar photovoltaic (PV) or solar thermal (T) alone.

In the state of the art, thermal energy is captured using a thermal agent (gaseous or liquid) introduced using a system of pipes, between the back of the photovoltaic module and the thermal insulation, which is then directed to a heat exchanger.

The solution we propose is to create the photovoltaic panel without any thermal insulation, and the liquid introduced into the space between the back of the photovoltaic module and the casing, with a temperature lower than that of the environment, to be led using pipes to the working tank of the isothermal rarefaction of a gas heat pump, which operates in reverse Carnot mode and transfers to the isothermal densifier of the heat pump, mounted in the accumulator. In this way, all the solar heat not converted into electrical energy, plus the environmental heat absorbed through the casing walls, is captured and accumulated.

The great advantage offered by the isothermalizer is the possibility of optimally regulating the temperature of the heat transfer fluid. The system is applicable to both building cooling/heating systems and solar panel fields.