Optimal switching control of PV/T systems with energy storage using forced water circulation: Case of South Africa

A true payback period (PBP) analysis is presented, where the project lifetime is chosen to be 30 years. The PBP analysis shows it takes up to 4 years and 2 years for the investor to generate profit from the standard PV system and the optimal switching control model, respectively. However, when looking at both systems over their predicted lifetime, the optimal switching control strategy generates a higher profit of 92.41%.