Energy and Exergy Potential of a Flow-Controlled Photovoltaic–Thermal Collector for Charging Thermochemical Energy Storage Under Intermittent Tropical Irradiance

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Photovoltaic–thermal (PVT) collectors co-generate electricity and heat—natural front ends for thermochemical energy storage (TCES)—provided the heat transfer fluid stays above the reactor’s desorption temperature. Using an eight-node model of a 0.6834 m2 collector at 8.64° N whose thermal core is partially validated against measured data from the same tropical–coastal site (rooftop PV module temperature, RMSE 3.8 °C; prototype absorber-to-water heat transfer, RMSE 1.3 °C), flow-regulated to the ≈95 °C SrCl2/NH3 desorption threshold, we quantify the energy and exergy delivered for charging under tropical–monsoon intermittency. The 95 °C setpoint operation, the ≈5.3 h charging window, and all reported exergy yields are simulated: the built prototype delivered hot water peaking at 79 °C and did not reach the 95 °C setpoint. On a measured clear-sky day (clearness index Kt = 0.52), the collector yields 1.38 kWh of energy but only 0.43 kWh of exergy (first-law efficiency ≈ 38%; gross exergy efficiency ≈ 13%); across a 30-seed synthetic-intermittency ensemble, the exergy yield is 0.678 kWh at ≈14% gross exergy efficiency (≈52% combined first-law efficiency). In both cases, the thermal stream dominates the energy output while the electrical stream dominates the exergy output—on the sunlit day, the exergy is about 80% electrical—because 95 °C heat carries a Carnot factor (exergetic quality factor, 1 − Ta/T7, at the instantaneous ambient dead state) of only ≈0.18 and an integrated Bejan/Kotas thermal-exergy quality of only ≈0.09. The controller holds the outlet within 1.4 K of the setpoint for ≈5.3 h, whereas no fixed flow in the 0.5–5.0 L min−1 range ever reaches it: feedback control is a structural enabler, not an optimisation. On overcast days, the threshold is never reached and charging heat collapses to zero, leaving a PV-only generator. Exergy delivery is nonetheless nearly controller-independent: the accumulated exergy delivery deficit after a 50% irradiance drop is 937 kJ, a controller-independent value changing only 1.3% across a systematic 4 × 4 gain sweep (Kp 0.33–2.7×, Kd 0.25–5× of nominal), and predictive control improves it by ≤1%. For PVT–TCES at this scale, the decisive lever is deployability, not control sophistication.

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Related topics: Chemical Looping and Thermochemical Processes · Adsorption and Cooling Systems · Thermal Expansion and Ionic Conductivity