Dynamic Exergetic Analysis and Evaluation of Photovoltaic Modules

Due to the growing demand for renewable energy sources, photovoltaic solar has been one of the most promising renewable energy sources in the world. In this article the performance of photovoltaic modules through energy and exergy efficiencies, sustainability index, improvement potential factors, and in terms of their exergy costs is investigated. The thermodynamic variables, such as environmental temperature, module temperature, wind velocity, density, and humidity of air, were considered in the analysis. The investigation helped identify the irreversibilities due to various exergy losses and exergy destructions present in the system for its possible improvements. A case study is presented to show the importance of the efficiency modeling and compare them using the actual operational data of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is determined that the energy efficiency varied between 34.09 and 52.14%, while the exergy efficiency ranged from 0.16 to 15.23%, respectively. The exergy efficiency for the PV/T analysis changed between 1.36 and 19.86%, with an average value of 9.65%. The sustainability index was between 1 and 1.17 for the system. The improvement potential factor had minimum and maximum values of 3,376 and 24,559.42 W, respectively, while the exergy rate of solar radiation was in the range of 3,850.9 and 25,115.95 W on the test date. There was obviously a large scope for improvement in the existing system as a very small amount of exergy from solar radiation was utilized.

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