An Experimental Study of a Composite Photovoltaic/Thermal Collector with a Tracking Concentrator System

2 Abstract: Photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system showed that it can combine the thermal energy system and the photovoltaic energy system to form a composite photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system. The system generates both thermal and electrical energy simultaneously. The suggested system is a photovoltaic plus solar thermal hybrid system which provide up to 4 times the total energy from the same surface area. We thought about using one photovoltaic module and use cheap mirrors to concentrate more sun light on the Photovoltaic module and by that we can produce more electricity with less cost. The problem about concentrating sun light on one module would lead to increase the temperature of the Photovoltaic module and by that photovoltaic module would decrease its efficiency, so we thought about cooling photovoltaic system by water and use the heated water. The tracking system for a PV/T Concentrator is an integration of several innovative proprietary technologies, such as 4 x geometrical solar concentration design, solar tracking, bifacial receiver concentration and PV panel cooling. The system has been designed, installed and tested under the climatic conditions of Cairo, Egypt. The system is provided with the necessary measuring instruments to carry out the required tests. The experimental results show that Bifacial-concentrated solar module with cooling has higher short circuit current and open circuit voltage with compared normal solar module. Thereby, the power produced by Bifacial- concentrated solar module with cooling is nearly 3 times the power produced by normal solar module. Also, the system produces a hot water with temperature average of 53°C.