Experimental investigation of a novel LCPV/T system with micro-channel heat pipe array.

At present, the use of domestic and industrial solar energy is commonly divided into two parts: Photovoltaic and solar thermal utilization, but due to the high cost and long recovery cycle, are limited in their respective development in this field. As a high-efficiency solar energy utilization technology, photovoltaic/thermal attracts more and more attention. In this paper, a novel low concentration photovoltaic/thermal (LCPV/T) system with micro-channel heat pipe array was proposed. The environmental parameters and the inlet and the outlet temperature and output power were tested in this study. The efficiency of the system was up to 12.68% while at the same time thermal, electric and heat efficiency reached a value of 54.48%, 14.49% and 2.1% respectively, at the inlet temperature of 31 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]