A review of concentrated photovoltaic-thermal (CPVT) hybrid solar systems with waste heat recovery (WHR)

In conventional photovoltaic (PV) systems, a large portion of solar energy is dissipated as waste heat since the generating efficiency is usually less than 30%. As the dissipated heat can be recovered for various applications, the wasted heat recovery concentrator PV/thermal (WHR CPVT) hybrid systems have been developed. They can provide both electricity and usable heat by combining thermal systems with concentrator PV (CPV) module, which dramatically improves the overall conversion efficiency of solar energy. This paper systematically and comprehensively reviews the research and development of WHR CPVT systems. WHR CPVT systems with innovative design configurations, different theoretical evaluation models and experimental test processes for several implementations are presented in an integrated manner. We aim to provide a global point of view on the research trends, market potential, technical obstacles, and the future work which is required in the development of WHR CPVT technology. Possibly, it will offer a generic guide to the investigators who are interested in the study of WHR CPVT systems.