Dynamic performance of photovoltaic thermal-heat pump system with connection configurations

The solar PV/T-heat pump integrates heat pump with PV/T collector for improving energy efficiency. This study combined effective heat capacity with a transient heat current model for PV/T collectors to explore the impact of PV/T collector connection arrangements and mass flow rates on the system’s performance. The dynamic heat transfer equation for PV/T collectors in series and parallel were derived. The effects of different connection methods on the operation, electrical and thermal performance of the PV/T collector system were analyzed. It is found that dynamic response time of collectors in series is around 25-35 minutes. The fluid mass flow rate and connection configuration influence the electrical and thermal performance of the system. To maintain stable operation of the heat pump, as the number of PV/T collectors in series increases, the mass flow rate through the collectors also needs to increase accordingly, while the system COP changes with solar irradiance. For the PV/T-heat pump system proposed, the suggested hybrid series-parallel combination is N=2, with fluid mass flow rate ranging from 0.03 kg/(m2·s) to 0.035 kg/(m2·s). PV/T collector array’s electrical efficiency is 12.01%, and the PV/T heat-pump system daily power output is 19.83kWh. The is 1.8 and is 2.46.