Plug-and-play liquid PV thermal panels - integrated design for easy manufacturing and installation

A photovoltaic-thermal panel or PVT panel simultaneously generates heat and electricity. This paper reports about the design of a new PVT panel by paying specific attention to user requirements, costs, manufacturing, building integration and installation. The panel's technical aspects and energy performance where also optimized. The result is a plug-and-play liquid PVT panel which consists of a PV laminate glued on top of a plastic channel absorber. The panel is covered by a plastic layer to reduce heat losses. It is equipped with four connection points which enhance the flexibility of the positioning of PVT panels on a tilted roof. Because of this feature the installation process will be simplified and installation costs will be decreased. Since part of the production process can be automated, production costs can be decreased as well. In Western Europe at an irradiation of 1000 kWh/m2.year, the PVT panel is expected to yield about 100 kWh/m2 of electricity and 1.0 GJ/m2 of heat.