TITLE:
Adapting Integrated High Concentrated PV Modules and Evacuated Tube Collectors to Minimize Building Energy Consumption in Hot Climate
AUTHORS:
Talal H. Alzanki, Kandil M. Kandil
KEYWORDS:
High Concentrated Photovoltaic, Evacuated Tube Collector, Net-Zero Energy Building, Avoided CO2 Emission
JOURNAL NAME:
Smart Grid and Renewable Energy,
Vol.10 No.10,
October
23,
2019
ABSTRACT: Energy consumption in buildings is considered a significant portion of
gross power dissipation, so a great effort is required to design efficient
construction. In severe hot weather conditions as Kuwait, energy required for
building cooling and heating results in a huge energy loads and consumption and
accordingly high emission rates of carbon dioxide. So, the main purpose of the
current work is to convert the existing institutional building to near net-zero
energy building (nNZEB) or into a net-zero energy building (NZEB). A combination
of integrated high concentrated photovoltaic (HCPV) solar modules and evacuated
tube collectors (ETC) are proposed to provide domestic water heating,
electricity load as well as cooling consumption of an institutional facility.
An equivalent circuit model for single diode is implemented to evaluate triple
junction HCPV modules efficiency considering concentration level and
temperature effects. A code compatible with TRNSYS subroutines is introduced to
optimize evacuated tube collector efficiency. The developed models are
validated through comparison with experimental data available from literature.
The efficiency of integrated HCPV-ETC unit is optimized by varying the
different system parameters. Transient simulation program (TRNSYS) is adapted
to determine the performance of various parts of HCPV-ETC system. Furthermore,
a theoretical code is introduced to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed building when integrated with renewable energy systems. The integrated HCPV-ETC fully satisfies the energy required for
building lighting and equipment. Utilizing HCPV modules of orientation 25?
accomplishes a minimum energy payback time of about 8 years. Integrated solar
absorption chiller provides about 64% of the annual air conditioning
consumption needed for the studied building. The energy payback period (EPT) or
solar cooling system is about 18 years which is significantly larger than that
corresponding to HCPV due to the extra expenses of solar absorption system. The
life cycle savings (LCS) of solar
cooling absorption system is approximately $2400/year. Furthermore, levelized
cost of energy of solar absorption cooling is $0.21/kWh. Hence, the net
cost of the solar system after subtracting the CO2 emission cost
will be close to the present price of conventional generation in Kuwait (about
$0.17/kWh). Finally, the yearly CO2 emission avoided is
approximately 543 ton verifying the environmental benefits of integrated
HCPV-ETC arrangements in Kuwait.