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Abstract The electric and thermal performance of a parabolic trough linear concentrating photovoltaic-thermal (CPVT) system operating in Padova (northern Italy) is experimentally investigated. The system moves about two axes and exhibits a geometrical concentration ratio around 130. The receiving module placed on the focus line displays a secondary optics made of two flat mirrors to gather some reflected radiation and to contribute to the concentrated flux on two lines of triple junction photovoltaic cells soldered on a ceramic substrate. The substrate is in thermal contact with a aluminium heat exchanger with water flow channels to cool the PV cells. During the test runs, the inlet water temperature ranges from 20 °C to 80 °C and the heat yield is obtained from mass flow rate and temperature measurements while a rheostat and a power analyzer are connected to the electric terminals of the module to assess the electrical production. The direct normal irradiation (DNI) is measured by a pyrherliometer mounted on a solar tracker. Experimental results are used to assess a numerical model of the solar receiver and the whole concentrator.
Col et al. (Wed,) studied this question.