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

Institut
Lehrstuhl für Thermodynamik (TUM-ED)
Typ
Masterarbeit /
Inhalt
 
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.

Möglicher Beginn
November 2026
Kontakt
Dr.-Ing. Abdelhakim Hassabou
Tel.: +49 89 289 16224
a.hassaboutum.de
Ausschreibung