Energy, exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analysis and optimization of a novel partially covered parabolic trough photovoltaic thermal collector based on life cycle method

Efficient utilization of solar energy could effectively alleviate dependence on fossil fuels and contribute to the ambitious target of carbon neutrality. This study first proposes a novel partially covered parabolic trough photovoltaic thermal (PCPTPVT) collector to efficiently exploit solar energy. The thermodynamic model and iterative procedure are built based on the thermal resistance circuit method. Energy, exergy, exergoenvir-onmental, and exergoeconomic analyses are conducted to evaluate the thermodynamic, environmental, and economic performances of the novel PCPTPVT collector. Besides, multi-objective optimization of the tradeoff between cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness is also carried out. The results show that 12.42% of the solar energy beamed on the PCPTPVT is converted into solar electricity and 61.38% of that is transformed into thermal energy for heating fluid. The electrical and thermal efficiencies of the PCPTVPT can reach 27.9% and 64.3%, respectively, and the energy and exergy efficiencies have notable improvements of 11.11% and 6.19% when the solar irradiation changes from 300 W/m2 to 1100 W/m2. The unit exergy emissions of CO2, NOX, and SO2 of the PCPTPVT under design conditions are 18.39 g/kWh, 117.8 mg/kWh, and 149.4 mg/kWh, and life cycle pollutant emission reductions reach 136.08 t, 971.92 kg, and 1125.35 kg, respectively.

Automated summary

Efficient utilization of solar energy is crucial for reducing dependence on fossil fuels and achieving carbon neutrality. This study introduces a novel partially covered parabolic trough photovoltaic thermal collector and evaluates its thermodynamic, environmental, and economic performances using energy, exergy, exergoenvir-onmental, and exergoeconomic analyses. The results demonstrate significant improvements in energy and exergy efficiencies, as well as reductions in pollutant emissions, under different solar irradiation levels.