Development of A Novel Solar Photovoltaic Energy Converter To Increase Off-Grid Solar Powerplant Energy Efficiency, Decrease Energy Storage Costs And Increase Monetary Return On Investment

In the present paper, a novel hybrid photovoltaic system will be presented, which can generate electrical and thermal energy from solar panels. The most important goal of the system is to increase the Return On Investment of an off-grid solar installation for the owner. A small prototype was built to confirm the hypothesis, that excess electrical energy, generated by photovoltaic solar panels, can be captured and stored in thermal form, therefore increasing the overall efficiency of the system, capacity factor and also the monetary return on investment ratio of the entire photovoltaic installation. The prototype not only produces electricity but also thermal energy as well, therefore the system can operate at higher efficiency, contrary to commercial photovoltaic systems, in addition it can produce domestic hot water and air conditioning. It was demonstrated, that excess electrical energy can be used to produce domestic hot water. The wasted low grade thermal energy generated by the panel can be used for home air heating, however it requires extra installation costs, therefore the feasibility and profitability is still not clear. The prototype also contains a glass reflector which enhances the solar radiation when the sun angle is low in winter and produces 46% more energy on direct sunlight and 20% in diffuse conditions (indirect sunlight). The prototype proves on a small scale, that from a financial point of view, the return on investment is higher compared to a traditional system.