Modeling of a Combined Photovoltaic I Thermal Energy System

Istvan Nagy

' Rafael K. Jardin

Budapest University of Technology and Economics
Department ofAutomation andAppliedInformatics
Budafoki 8, H-l 1I I Budapest, Hungary
phone: +36-1-463-2338,e-moil:
jrk@elektro.get.bme.hu

Budapest University of Technology and Economics

Department of Automation and Applied Informatics
Bvdajbki 8, H-I1 I 1 Budapest, Hungary
phone: +36-1-463-1165, e-mail:
nagy@elektro.get.bme.hu

>

Abstract-The utilization of solar energy can be made by

photovoltaic (PV)cells to generate electric power directly
and solar thermal 0 panels can be applied to generate
heat power. When the utilization of the solar energy is
necessary to generate electric power, the option of using T
panels in combination with some heatlelectric power
conversion technology can be viable solution. The power
generated by utilizing the solar energy absorbed by a
given area of solar panel can be increased if the two
technologies, PV and T cells, are combined in such a way
that the resulting unit will be capable of co-generation of
heat and electric power. A is system proposed for
converting the energy, obtained from solar radiation, into
electric energy. The combined Photovoltaic / Thermal
panels are connected to a heat I electric energy conversion
system converts heat energy into mechanical energy that
is converted further into electric energy by a turbinegenerator-converter unit connected to the utility mains or
a group of loads. The development and design of the
system is made by extensive use of modeling and
simulation techniques. In the paper a part of the
simulation studies, carried out to determine the energy
balance in the electric energy conversion section of the
system, assuming stand-alone operation is presented. The
energy balance in the long run is basically determined by
the energy supplied by the photovoltaic cells and the
energy consumed by the load Simulation results are
presented that show the operation of the PV part of the
system in a longer period o f time.

The spread and fast proliferation of DPPs is a

worldwide trend. The developing new smcture, a
system consisting of a few large and numerous small
produces, is the source of a number of new problems,
some of these are on the network side, the other part is
on the side of the DPPs, such as static and dynamic
stability of the network, asymmetric operation, network
overvoltages, different symmetric and asymmetric short
circuits, cooperation of DPPs in island mode of
operation, etc.

The utilization of solar energy c a be

~ ~made by
photovoltaic (PV) cells to generate electric power
directly and solar thermal (T) panels to generate heat
power. When the heat power can be used directly e.g.
for utility hot water production, the application of solar
thermal panels can be economic as the construction of
these devices is simple while their efficiency is high. At
the same time the cost of the PV cells is high and the
efficiency is moderate, resulting in very long payback
times.
When the utilization of the solar energy is necessary
only to generate electric power, it is worth considering
the option of using T panels in combination with some
heat / electric power conversion technology, as even if
the overall efficiency of the system is medium or
moderate, the solution can be a viable, economical one.

Keywords-Renewableenergy, Modeling und simulation

I.

applicable in the low (10-100 kW) power range were

not developed. This attitude is now going through a
great change and the concept of generating electric
power in small units gets wide acceptance, the
technology of Disperse Power Plants @PP) is the
subject of intensive research.

INTRODUCTION

The growing demand for energy, the environment

pollution, and the shrinking energy resources pose one
of the biggest challenges to mankind. In this h m e the
role of every environment - Giendly, economic,
technically feasible energy generation and saving
method need carefnl consideration, especially if waste
or renewable energy is used for production of the most
valuable kind of energy: the electric energy. In the
energy production, until recently the dominating
concept was that economic energy produ&on was
possible only in large power plants, and technologies
Research work supported by OTKA, National Research Fund of
Hungary ( TO46240 and T034630) and the Control Research
Gmup ofthe Hungarian Academy of Science

1751

OF THE SYSTEMSTUDIED
11. DESCRIPTION
The power generated by utilizing the solar energy
absorbed by a given area of solar panel can be increased
if the two technologies, PVand T cells, are combined in
such a way that the resulting unit will be capable of cogeneration of heat and electric power. The combination
of the two technologies offers distinct advantages in
cost savings in production, installation and the reduced
demand in roof or land area [2]. The main disadvantage
of the solution is that the efficiencies of both the PVand
the thermal parts will be reduced as compared to the
individual application. The research work aimed at
improving the performance of the combined panels

PL I WM

Figure 1. Cmtruction of the combined PV I T panel

resulted in a special construction with considerable
increase in the overall efficiency and reduction of the
production cost. A simplified diagram showing the
basic layout is seen in Figure 1. The thermal part of the
construction is built by using transparent plastic layers
(PL) with cellular inner walls where working medium
(WM)is circulated. Beneath the plastic layers Silicon
(Si) photovoltaic cell is fured and hermetically
insulated.

panels and ensures the conditioning of the battely, i.e.

protects it fiom overcharging and deep discharge. The
electric energy supplied by the PVcells is used partly to
charge the battery and to feed energy back to the mains
(or a stand-alone load) via the D C / A C converter. The
task of the charge controller is to limit the battery
voltage to a maximum level in case of surplus charge
and disconnect the load to prevent deep discharge in
case of deficiency in charge.

The solar ray penetrates through the plastic layers and

working medium, generating electric power in the solar
cell. The heat power is absorbed partly in the FVM and
Si layer. Beneath the Si layer thermal insulation (TI)
used The construction is held by a case (C)and covered
by a glass layer (GL) having a special filter coating to
reduce the power loss caused by reflection.

111.

The operation of the complete system is quite

complex and the analysis, regarding the large number of
energy storages and the highly non-linear nature of the
building blocks, is a real challenge. The development
and design of the system can only be made by extensive
use of modeling and simulation techniques. In the
present paper a part of the simulation studies, carried
out to stndy the energy balance in the electric energy
conversion section of the system, incorporating PV
panels, charge controller, battery, DC / AC converter,
assuming SA operation, will only be presented. A more
detailed study of the T-G section is found in [6].A
reliable- design of the system, as far as the energy
balance is concerned, is of paramount importance as
both the PVcells and the batteries are very expensive.

A system proposed for converting an increased

portion of energy, obtained flom solar radiation, into
electric eneigy is shown in Figure 2. The combined
Photovoltaic I Thermal panels (PV/ T ) are connected to
a heat I electric energy conversion system that consists
of a heat exchanger and a turbine-generator-converter
unit connected to the utility mains (parallel mode of
operation - PW. or a group of loads (stand-alone mode
of operation - SA). In P M by adding a static switch
(SW),UPS operation can also be realized [3] by using
energy storage devices: storage tank in the thermal side
or batteries in the dc link of the AC/AC converter. A
more detailed functional block diagram of the heat
conversion section is shown in Figure 3.

As the temperature of the working medium, leaving

the thermal panel is low, no direct steam generation is
possible therefore the principle of binary cycle steam
turbines is applied. The primary working medium is
circulated by a pump though the thermal panel, the
storage tank (ST), and the heat exchanger (NE). In the
secondary circuit, involving the HE the turbine and a
condenser, an organic working medium of low boiling
temperature is used. An auxiliary steam generator
( A S 0 with some heat input (e.g. from natural gas) can
be used if the safety of the energy supply requires.

SIMULATION STUDIES

The energy balance in the long run is basically

determined by the energy supplied by the PV cells and
the energy consumed by the load, however, losses of the
energy conversion and the charge controller have to be
taken into account.
The operation of the charge controller is based on a
voltage regulation loop that keeps the battery voltage at
the level determined by a battery voltage reference
signal in case of surplus charge, in such a way that a
DCDC converter sinks a part of the PV cell current to
reduce the battery current to zero. As both the P V cell
current and the load cment varies stochastically in
time, exact calculation is not possible, however, on the
long run,e.g. over a year, the energy balance can well
'be estimated based on meteorological and recorded load

The direct electric energy conversion section of the

system consists of a charge controller that accepts the
current supplied by the photovoltaic part of the PV/ T

1752

data

Storage

Combined
PVi-rhermal Panel

Tank

Heat
exchanger

Turbine Generator

HE

#ins

Converter

Generator

Converter

Charge
Controller

Banery

Load

Figure 2. Block diagram of the system

A simplified block diagram of a Matlab / Simulink

model developed for studying the energy balance in a
system with a peak load on the electric part of app.
1.25 kW, rated battery voltage of 48 V and a battery
capacity of 400Ah, assuming lead-acid battev is
shown in Figure 3.
The block diagram includes three basic models:
Battery, PV cells and the charge controller (CC)
including the voltage controller.
The voltage regulation is realized by the PID
controller that accepts the error signal, the difference
between the voltage reference (Vrefl and the actual
battery voltage (Vb). The output of the PID controller
determines the current of the DC/DC converter in the
charge controller.

The PV cell current is determined by the radiation

intensity and the output voltage according to the
characteristics of the PV cells. The actual PV cell
current is given as the product of the current obtained
fiom the V-A characteristics corresponding to the
maximum radiation and the instantaneous level of
radiation in pu.
The radiation vs. time, corresponding to the
geographical location and the time of the day and year,

as well as the PV cell V-A characteristics are taken into

account by look-up tables. The number of series and
parallel connected cells are also considered (parameters
Np and Ns).
The load current vs. ti& is also obtained from a
look-up table, providing the load profile in pu, that is
multiplied by the rated load current to get the actual
load current in A. The difference of the PV cell current
and the load current is modified by the DC/DC
converter current according to the output signal of the
PID controller.
The resulting current of the above three components
is the battery current that is integrated to obtain the
charge of the battery. The charge vs. voltage
characteristics of the battery is stored in the look-up
table Lfuttey Q-V, that yields the battery voltage. The
rated battery capacity Q n and the number of battery
cells N are taken into account.
When starting the simulation, the initial charge of
the battery (Qi) has to be considered, however, it does
not influence the final results of a longer period. The
internal resistance and the self-discharge of the battery
are not included in the simplified model shown.

1753

Figure 3. Block d i a g " of the MatlabiSimulink model

the number PV cells or the capacity of the battery in
order to ensure flawless operation.

lV. SIMULATION
RESULTS
Simulation results are presented next. In Figure 4
the battery voltage vs. time is shown for a period of 70
hours. It represents a case of when the energy supplied
by the PV cells is sufficient to cover the energy need of
the load; the battery charge reaches the maximum value
in the second day, defined by the battery voltage
reference. In Figure 5 the battery charge is plotted for
the same period of time as in the previous figure. It can
well be seen that after app. 38h, he battery charge
reaches its maximum value (app.9,0%, corresponding to
the set Vref). The PV cell current varies according to
the changing intensity of radiation while the load
current is changed corresponding to a programmed time
schedule. In Figure 6. the solar cell current 0%) and the
battery current (Ih) vs. time are plotted. It can well be
seen that when the battery voltage reaches the level of
Vref, the D C / D C controller reduces the battery current
to zero, keeping the battery charge nearly constant.

A more complex model is used to analyze the

behavior of the heat / electric energy conversion section
of the system that cannot be presented in the limited
volume of the present paper.

Running the program for an extended period of

time, taking into account the changing intensity of solar
radiation and varying load time schedule, valuable
information can be obtained about the energy balance of
the system, revealing if modifications are necessary in

1754

Figure 4. Battery voltage vs time

V. CONCLUSION
A system suggested for utilizing solar energy for the
production of electsic energy, based on the application
of combined photovoltaic / solar thermal panels, has
been proposed in the present paper. The system can be
operated in parallel or stand-alone mode and UPS
operation is also possible. The analysis of the complex
system requires extensive use of simulation techniques
and a Matlab/Simulink model is shown that can be
used to study the energy balance of the section
connected with the PV part of the combined panels. The
essential parts of the system have already been built and
tested [3,4,5] and it can be concluded that the system
suggested hereby is technically feasible. The economy
of the solution needs further investigations.
Figure 5 . Battety charge vs. time

VI.

REFERENCES

[I] W.Z. Zehringer, 1. Pieder, M. Suter, N. Celanovic: Power

Elecfmonics Solutions for Distributed Power Generation
1I' International Symposium an Power Electronics-Ee2001,
Novi Sad, Yugoslavia,Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
Jong, M.1.M: System Studia on Combined PV I lbermal
Panels,Elfies Symposium Thermis& SalTenergie,
9-1 1, May, 2001, Klaster Banz, Staffelstein, Germany
Canders,W.-R.-HeldtJ. - Jardan,R.K. -Nagy,l. - Pfil"er,H.J.:
Application of a Novel 400 kVA Nahlral Gas
Expansion System as Power Conditioner, Proceedings of
EPEOI Conference Graz, 27-29, August, 2001.
[41 [4] Casadei, D.Grandi, G. lardan, R.K. Pmfimo, F.: Cmtrol
Strategy of a Power line Conditioner for Co-Generation
Plants, Proceedings of IEE-PESC'99, Charleston, South
Carolina, US, 1999. Val. 2. pp.607-612
[5] I&,
R.K.-Nagy, 1. Nitta,T, Ohsaki, H.: PawerFactor
Correction in a T h i n e - Generator-Converter System.
Proceedings af IEEE-IAS Conference, October 8-12,2000
Rome. Italy.
lardan, R.K.-Nagy, I.: Synchronous Machine - T h i n e Drive
Svstem with Indirect Soeed Control
&ceedmgs of IEEE-fEMDC.03 Conference, M a d " ,
waconsm, US

Figure 6. Battery current and PV cell current vs time

1755