Interference (communication)

Engineering

Materials science

Tracking (education)

Pedagogy

Physics

Nanotechnology

Psychology

Optics

Thermal

Thin film

Electronic engineering

Process engineering

Transmittance

Channel (broadcasting)

Meteorology

Photoelectric effect

Optoelectronics

Photovoltaic system

Exergy

Electrical engineering

Engineering physics

Energy Conversion and Management

In a “thermally decoupled” PV/T system, photovoltaic and thermal absorbers are allowed to operate at different temperatures to utilize full-spectrum sunlight. In this study, a two-axis tracking PV/T system with a SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film (irradiated by natural sunlight) was designed and fabricated initially. The SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film designed by the authors achieved a high average reflectance (R ≥ 96.8%) for PV bands, with a high average transmittance (T ≥ 85%) at 1100–2500 nm. The photoelectric, photothermal, and overall efficiencies were tested and analyzed theoretically using the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Outdoor testing indicated that PV cells with SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film can decrease by 3.0 K, and that the power generation and efficiency of the PV cells can be improved by 10% and 0.65%, respectively. The overall energy and exergy efficiency of the PV/T system based on SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film can reach 22.72% and 18.81%, i.e., 4.94% and 1.03% higher than those without a SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film, respectively. The calculated payback time was 17 years for this PV/T system.

Experimental investigation on spectral splitting of photovoltaic/thermal hybrid system with two-axis sun tracking based on SiO2/TiO2 interference thin film