Co-producing electricity and solar syngas by transmitting photovoltaics and solar thermochemical process

Abstract In this paper, a solar co-producing electricity and solar syngas is originally proposed through synergistically combining a solar photovoltaic process and a solar thermochemical process. A transmitting photovoltaics is adopted and enables the ultraviolet and visible spectra to be converted into electricity. The infrared spectrum penetrates through the transmitting photovoltaics and is converted into high-grade chemical exergy of solar syngas through thermochemical reaction, rather than being converted into waste heat. The energy conversion models of the transmitting photovoltaics and solar thermochemical reactor are described. The total efficiency of solar-to-both electricity and solar syngas can be achieved to 55%. Furthermore, the influence of the key parameters on the solar cogeneration system performance is disclosed, such as the cut-off wavelength, solar cell types and production ratio. Our results would be expected to provide a new pathway of cascade utilization of the concentrating sunlight according to the spectrum distribution.

[1]  Xu Ji,et al.  The performance analysis of the Trough Concentrating Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal system , 2011 .

[2]  Francesco Calise,et al.  Solar heating and cooling systems by CPVT and ET solar collectors: A novel transient simulation model , 2013 .

[3]  Yong Hao,et al.  Performance analysis of a photovoltaic-thermochemical hybrid system prototype , 2017 .

[4]  Richard R. Lunt,et al.  Transparent, near-infrared organic photovoltaic solar cells for window and energy-scavenging applications , 2011 .

[5]  Mehran Ameri,et al.  Performance of a parabolic trough concentrating photovoltaic/thermal system: Effects of flow regime, design parameters, and using nanofluids , 2017 .

[6]  Amin M. Elsafi.  Integration of humidification-dehumidification desalination and concentrated photovoltaic-thermal collectors: Energy and exergy-costing analysis , 2017 .

[7]  Yong Hao,et al.  Explore the performance limit of a solar PV – thermochemical power generation system , 2017 .

[8]  Richard R. Lunt,et al.  Angle dependence of transparent photovoltaics in conventional and optically inverted configurations , 2013 .

[9]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  Operational performance of the development of a 15kW parabolic trough mid-temperature solar receiver/reactor for hydrogen production , 2012 .

[10]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  Mid-temperature solar fuel process combining dual thermochemical reactions for effectively utilizing wider solar irradiance , 2017 .

[11]  Ning Han,et al.  High-Performance GaAs Nanowire Solar Cells for Flexible and Transparent Photovoltaics. , 2015, ACS applied materials & interfaces.

[12]  Yong Hao,et al.  Efficient solar power generation combining photovoltaics and mid-/low-temperature methanol thermochemistry , 2017 .

[13]  George Papadakis,et al.  Simulation and economic analysis of a CPV/thermal system coupled with an organic Rankine cycle for increased power generation , 2011 .

[14]  Chongwu Zhou,et al.  Continuous, highly flexible, and transparent graphene films by chemical vapor deposition for organic photovoltaics. , 2010, ACS nano.

[15]  Lun Jiang,et al.  Novel double-stage high-concentrated solar hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector with nonimaging optics and GaAs solar cells reflector , 2016 .

[16]  S. M. Sze,et al.  Physics of semiconductor devices , 1969 .

[17]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  Mechanism of Upgrading Low-Grade Solar Thermal Energy and Experimental Validation , 2008 .

[18]  Tin-Tai Chow,et al.  Performance analysis of photovoltaic-thermal collector by explicit dynamic model , 2003 .

[19]  Xiaosong Zhang,et al.  Experimental study on the operating characteristics of a novel low-concentrating solar photovoltaic/thermal integrated heat pump water heating system , 2011 .

[20]  Hongguang Jin,et al.  New solar-biomass power generation system integrated a two-stage gasifier. , 2017 .

[21]  Koroneos Christopher,et al.  A review on exergy comparison of hydrogen production methods from renewable energy sources , 2012 .

[22]  W. Warta,et al.  Solar cell efficiency tables (Version 45) , 2015 .

[23]  Abraham Kribus,et al.  Water desalination with concentrating photovoltaic/thermal (CPVT) systems , 2009 .

[24]  I. Dincer,et al.  Concentrated solar light splitting using cold mirrors for photovoltaics and photonic hydrogen production applications , 2017 .

[25]  Zhifeng Wang,et al.  Numerical analysis and optimization of a spectrum splitting concentration photovoltaic–thermoelectric hybrid system , 2012 .

[26]  Francesco Calise,et al.  A novel solar-assisted heat pump driven by photovoltaic/thermal collectors: Dynamic simulation and thermoeconomic optimization , 2016 .

[27]  M. Romero,et al.  Concentrating solar thermal power and thermochemical fuels , 2012 .

[28]  Todd Otanicar,et al.  Photovoltaic/thermal system performance utilizing thin film and nanoparticle dispersion based optical filters , 2013 .

[29]  M. Green.  Third generation photovoltaics : advanced solar energy conversion , 2006 .

[30]  Peter Veelaert,et al.  A Proposal for Typical Artificial Light Sources for the Characterization of Indoor Photovoltaic Applications , 2014 .

[31]  Carlo Renno,et al.  Design and modeling of a concentrating photovoltaic thermal (CPV/T) system for a domestic application , 2013 .

[32]  M. Al-Nimr,et al.  A combined CPV/T and ORC solar power generation system integrated with geothermal cooling and electrolyser/fuel cell storage unit , 2017 .

[33]  Richard R. Lunt,et al.  Theoretical limits for visibly transparent photovoltaics , 2012 .

[34]  Stephan Paredes,et al.  A novel concept of energy reuse from high concentration photovoltaic thermal (HCPVT) system for desalination , 2012 .

[35]  Laura Schaefer,et al.  Performance evaluation of a PVT/ORC (photovoltaic thermal/organic Rankine cycle) system with optimization of the ORC and evaluation of several PV (photovoltaic) materials , 2015 .

[36]  Wei Sun,et al.  Numerical simulation and experimental validation of a high concentration photovoltaic/thermal module based on point-focus Fresnel lens , 2016 .