Research Information System
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EXERGY, vol.11, no.2, pp.229-251, 2012 (Journal Indexed in SCI)
In this study, an energy, exergy and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) analysis of a Flat-Plate (FP) collector, a Photovoltaic (PV) system and a Photovoltaic-Thermal (PV-T) collector is carried out for better evaluation. It is observed that instantaneous energy, daily energy and exergy efficiency of the FP collector, the PV system and the PV/T collector vary between 53-61%, 19-30%, 23-37% and 56-74%, 11-15%, 21-34% and 2-7%, 6-22% and 8-16%, respectively. The energy and CO2 payback time of these solar collectors varies between 2, 12, 3.8 and 1.6, 3.6 and 1.8 years, respectively. Thermodynamic and LCA analysis show that a considerable amount of electrical and thermal energy is generated by the PV-T collector and the sustainability of the system is improved. Hence, the PV system has features better for the PV-T collector, especially when both electricity and heat are required for domestic applications.