LENS-WALLED CPC · A Novel Lens-walled Compound Parabolic Concentrator (Lens-walled CPC) PV/Thermal System
FP7 — People (Marie Curie Actions)
- Duration
- 2011-05-01 → 2013-04-30
- EU contribution
- €181,103
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MC-IIF
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Results in brief
A novel lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator PV / thermal system
The project aims to develop a novel Lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator photovoltaic (PV) / thermal system (CPC) for building-integrated applications. The sector of buildings accounts for about 40 % of the total energy consumption in the Europe. The above-mentioned system could play an important role in promoting solar energy applications in buildings, hence make a significant contribution to the European Union (EU) targeting in cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The LENS-WALLED CPC is an innovative idea and has the advantage of larger acceptance angle for solar radiation compared with a common CPC of the same geometrical concentration ratio. The lens-walled CPC PV / thermal panel, which serves as the key component in the lens-walled CPC PV / thermal system, is composed by an array of mini lens-walled CPCs to form the appearance of a flat panel. The system can reduce the quantity of PV cells by up to four times compared with common installations and have better overall electricity and thermal performance. The system is very suitable for non-tracking solar concentration PV / thermal applications in residential and commercial buildings and would have a potential large market worldwide. For the past two years (1 May 2011 - 30 April 2013), the project activities have been conducted effectively and eleven refereed research papers have been published or submitted. Based on the research, the main results achieved are listed as follows: (a) computer model and modelling results for the lens-walled CPC; (b) sample lens-walled CPCs and their experimental results; (c) computer model and modelling results of the lens-walled CPC PV / thermal system; (d) construction of a prototype of the lens-walled CPC PV / thermal system and its testing and monitoring results; (e) dissemination and exploitation of the project outcomes.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
This International Fellowship will bring an excellent Chinese researcher to work in the Europe. The project has been carefully chosen to match the researcher's expertise in PV/Thermal assisted heat pump systems with the expertise in non-tracking solar concentration and sustainable building technology at the University of Nottingham so as to maximise the benefit to the Europe. The proposed project aims to develop a novel lens-walled compound parabolic concentrator (lens-walled CPC) PV/Thermal system for building-integrated applications. The sector of buildings accounts for about 40% of the total energy consumption in the Europe. The proposed system may play an important role in promoting solar energy applications in buildings, hence make a significant contribution to the EU target in cutting CO2 emissions. The proposed lens-walled CPC is an innovative idea and has the advantage of larger acceptance angle for solar radiation compared with a common CPC of the same geometrical concentration ratio. The lens-walled CPC PV/Thermal panel is the key component in the proposed system and comprises an array of mini lens-walled CPCs to give the appearance of a flat panel. The proposed system has the potential to reduce the sizes of PV modules by up to four times compared with common installations and would have better overall electricity and thermal performance. The proposed system is very suitable for non-tracking solar concentration PV/Thermal applications in residential and commercial buildings and will have a potential large market worldwide. Development of the proposed technology requires comprehensive scientific knowledge including PV/Thermal, solar concentration, heat pump and sustainable building design. The training of the researcher will be achieved through regular supervision and mentoring and a carefully managed research programme including computer modelling, testing and monitoring of the proposed technology as well as economic and environmental analyses.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM · NottinghamCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union