Advanced PV-enabled heat generation system with precise thermal power regulation.

Area of Science:

• Renewable Energy Systems
• Thermal Engineering
• Power Electronics

Background:

• Conventional solar thermal systems suffer from poor energy utilization or limited thermal control.
• Direct PV-resistor coupling and MPPT-based systems have inherent drawbacks for precise temperature regulation.
• There is a need for advanced PV systems offering stable thermal power delivery under fluctuating solar irradiance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an advanced photovoltaic-enabled heat generation system with precise thermal power regulation.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional solar thermal systems in controlling chamber temperature.
• To enable stable and controllable thermal power delivery for resistive heating applications.

Main Methods:

• Integration of photovoltaic panels with a high-efficiency synchronous Boost converter.
• Implementation of a hybrid power regulation algorithm for precise thermal control.
• Experimental validation under various operating scenarios, including constant-power and staircase power tests.

Main Results:

• The proposed system demonstrated stable thermal power regulation (e.g., 100 W) under fluctuating solar irradiance (560-770 W/m²).
• Achieved high converter efficiencies (above 88.6%) while maintaining thermal control, unlike MPPT-only operation.
• Characterized thermal dynamics, yielding a heating time constant of ~880 s, cooling time constant of ~1100 s, thermal resistance of 0.390 °C/W, and thermal capacitance of ~2256 J/°C.

Conclusions:

• The developed PV-enabled heat generation system provides stable and controllable thermal power.
• The system is suitable for applications requiring precise temperature management, such as solar dryers and heat chambers.
• The hybrid power regulation algorithm effectively addresses the limitations of conventional solar thermal systems.