A review on recent advancements in photovoltaic thermal techniques

Due to ever increasing simultaneous demand of heat and electricity globally, Photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system comes out as an essential research area in recent years. Integration of photovoltaic (PV) and thermal system in a single unit, improves PV cell efficiency and produces low grade heat. Researchers are working on optimization of the PVT system from last 2-3 decades, but till now, very few efficient PVT systems are available in the commercial market. This review paper describes the work done by various researchers on conventional and newly developed PVT systems. Building integrated PVT system and some typical research works has been presented for novel PVT systems during last 5-6 years. Key information from different research work is summarized at the end of every section, so that the readers can identify and analyze the overall development in PVT systems. Future perception and recommendation on PVT systems are also discussed at the end.