Optimized design and operation of heat-pipe photovoltaic thermal system with phase change material for thermal storage

This work aims to optimize the design and operation of a heat pipe photovoltaic-thermal (HP-PV/T) panel integrated with a phase change material (PCM) thermal storage water tank to produce electricity and hot water for an office building. A transient mathematical model for the integrated HP-PV/T-PCM system was used to predict its performance for known environmental and solar conditions and PCM melting point. The validated model was applied on a typical office space in the city of Beirut to obtain an optimal design using a derivative free genetic algorithm. The incremental system cost associated with a heat pipe and PCM tank was used in the optimization to obtain a design resulting in minimum annual auxiliary heating cost to meet the hot water demand while providing the electricity needs at a lower number of PV panels due to improved efficiency. An optimal system of 4 kW (20 PV panels each at 1.6 m(2)) was found to meet the electric power needs all year round. The optimal PCM storage tank size per panel was 371 at PCM total mass of 22.42 kg with melting temperature of 33 degrees C. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.