Experimental Study of Constant Temperature Operation and Constant Flow Operation in Concentrating PV / T System

Abstract Low-concentrating solar photovoltaic thermal (PV / T) system combines the solar cell module with a solar collector which is aimed at converting solar energy into both electricity and thermal energy. It can make good use of diffuse radiation and performs well under lower solar radiation. In this paper, a CPC-PV / T system which coupled PV / T collectors with the CPC was designed. And the PV / T collector was made by bonding and laminating polycrystalline silicon cells and flat cassette heat exchanger. Experimental study and analysis has been made on constant temperature operation and constant flow operation of this system according to first law of thermodynamics and second law of thermodynamics. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of two operation modes have been analyzed to optimize the operation and further improve the efficiency of the system.