Multiscale Modeling and Component-Level Validation of Two-Stage Hybrid Photovoltaic–Thermal Solar Collectors

Kurzbeschreibung

Beschreibung Multiscale Modeling and Component-Level Validation of Two-Stage Hybrid Photovoltaic–Thermal Solar Collectors Type: Master’s Thesis (M.Sc.) Field: Solar Energy · Photovoltaic-Thermal Systems · Multiscale Modeling · Component-Level Validation Methods: Physics-Based Dynamic Modeling · Multiscale Coupling · Uncertainty Propagation · Reduced-Order Optical Representation Tools: MATLAB or Python Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Abdelhakim Hassabou Chair: Chair of Thermodynamics, TUM School of Engineering and Design Background Two-stage hybrid photovoltaic–thermal (PVT) collectors produce electricity and high-temperature useful heat from a single aperture. The upper stage is a conventional liquid-cooled PVT collector that preheats the working fluid; the lower stage raises the fluid temperature further using concentrated solar radiation. Accurate annual and field-scale prediction requires coupling optical physics with thermal modeling, while repeated high-fidelity ray tracing at every timestep is computationally impractical. Scientific Objective Develop and validate a reproducible multiscale model of a two-stage hybrid PVT collector that predicts annual and field-scale electrical and thermal performance with quantified accuracy, without repeated high-fidelity ray tracing. Central question: How accurately can performance be predicted by coupling a verified reduced-order optical representation of the concentrating stage with physics-based thermal and electrical models of the serial PVT–thermal collector, validated against the strongest available independent experimental data? Core Tasks 1. Develop and validate the upper PVT thermo-electrical model against two published experimental datasets with raw data. 2. Test cross-collector transferability using a third published dataset. 3. Benchmark the concentrating-stage optical representation against published CPC studies. 4. Develop the concentrating-stage thermal model using downward-facing heat-transfer correlations. 5. Verify serial coupling against a published coupled PVT–thermal experiment. 6. Perform multiscale simulation of 20–200 m collector rows and quantify uncertainty propagation. 7. Deliver reproducible MATLAB/Python code and a manuscript-ready scientific dataset. Expected Outcomes • Component-validated multiscale model and validated upper PVT submodel. • Verified serial coupling and concentrating-stage thermal model. • Quantified uncertainty budget and verified 20–200 m row simulations. • Work intended to contribute to a peer-reviewed publication. Voraussetzungen • Thermodynamics, heat transfer, numerical methods, MATLAB, TRNSYS or Python. • Interest in solar energy, dynamic simulation, and uncertainty analysis is beneficial.