Application evaluation and 4E analysis of PV/T assisted with direct drying chamber system

Abstract

To reduce drying energy consumption and improve the efficiency of solar energy utilization, a PV/T assisted with direct drying chamber system (PVTDS) was proposed in this study. The feasible of system were analyzed by drying sweet potato experiment, and the energy-exergy-environment-economic analysis were adopted to evaluate the sustainability of this system by comparing with open sun drying. Furthermore, the applicability of the photovoltaic-thermal collector in China was also analyzed using TRNSYS software. The results shown that the average drying rate of PVTDS was 0.08 (g/g)h⁻¹ higher than that of open sun drying. The page model was found to the best suitable way to describe sweet potatoes drying in the system with R² value 0.99929, RMSE value 0.00795 and χ² value 0.00006. The total thermal efficiency of photovoltaic-thermal collector ranged from 24.5 % to 84.6 %. The specific energy consumption of drying system was 4.85 kWh/kg. The exergy loss of photovoltaic-thermal collector varied from 282.6 W to 1915.6 W. The CO₂ net emissions reduction of the system was 1.68 tons per year. The investment payback period of the system was 2.62 years. Finally, the performance of the photovoltaic-thermal collector simulated by TRNSYS software has been proven by test experiment with a high accurate, the system applicability days and system performance coefficients of typical cities in the China five building climate regions are given through simulation. The results of this study can provide theoretical and practical guidance for the application of the system in China.