An Economic Analysis of Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal (PVT) Systems: A Comprehensive Review
摘要
Renewable energy is crucial for mitigating the environmental impact of fossil fuels, which emit harmful gases like CO2, NOx, and sulfur compounds. Solar and wind energy sources are abundant, though their efficiency remains a challenge, leading to higher costs. Hybrid systems, combining solar PV with wind (PV-WT) or biomass (PV-BM), offer enhanced reliability over single-source alternatives, meeting the rising electricity demands driven by population growth. This chapter discusses an economic analysis of hybrid photovoltaic thermal (PVT) systems. The study found that for the on-grid applications standalone PV systems are optimal result, whereas for off-grid PV-WT system are excels. The study also examines levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) which indicates that the integration of more than two renewable energies increases the cost of electricity. The study further investigates the cost of on-grid and off-grid systems which shows that the minimum cost of 0.051 $/kWh to PV standalone systems with an average solar irradiation and temperature of 4.56 kWh/m2/day and 24.5 °C, respectively. For the on-grid systems, the minimum cost ranges between 0.051 and 0.1904 $/kWh by the researcher by using the different algorithms and optimization software. Similarly for the off-grid hybrid energy system, the cost of electricity (COE) per kWh ranges from 0.064 to 0.732 $/kWh. In which, PV-WT hybrid systems have the lowest COE, i.e., 0.064 $/kWh, which shows that this is the most cost-effective off-grid energy system.