Solar Energy Based Cogeneration System for Improved Solar Energy Utilization

This paper presents the design and analysis of a solar energy based cogeneration system. The integration of photovoltaic (PV) cell units with thermal energy recovery units is analysed for improved energy harnessing schemes. In addition to the electrical energy produced by solar panels, solar heat energy can also be utilized by employing such types of hybrid systems. This effectively increases the total solar energy utilization prospect by the system. The solar cogeneration system is developed in MATLAB simulation. environment. The comprehensive analysis of energy utilization and performance improvement is presented in the paper. The simulation data utilises a full day 24 hour duration for the analysis. The system ratings, efficiencies for each type of energy harnessing method are related to the overall system performance by their fundamental relations. The major methods of heat energy tapping including active and passive heat exchangers are combined along with electrical energy by PV cells and thermoelectric generators in the system. The simulation results indicate that by combining the thermal energy harnessing model, total energy utilization can be increased by more than $100 \%$ as compared to the solar PV system only. This increases the overall efficiency of the system and helps in promoting solar energy units as a better renewable energy source for green energy generation and household applications.