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Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
www.elsevier.com/locate/solener

Multi-objective optimization of a novel solar-based

multigeneration energy system
Pouria Ahmadi , Ibrahim Dincer, Marc A. Rosen
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), 2000 Simcoe St. North, Oshawa, ON L1H 7K4, Canada

Received 17 May 2014; received in revised form 21 July 2014; accepted 28 July 2014

Communicated by: Associate Editor Yogi Goswami

Abstract

A new multigeneration system based on an ocean thermal energy conversion system and equipped with at plate and PV/T solar col-
lectors, a reverse osmosis desalination unit to produce fresh water, a single eect absorption chiller and a PEM electrolyzer is proposed
and thermodynamically assessed. Energy and exergy analyses are employed to determine the irreversibilities in each component and
assess system performance. A multi-objective optimization method based on a fast and elitist non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm
(NSGA-II) is applied to determine the best design parameters for the system. The two objective functions utilized in the optimization are
the total cost rate of the system, which is the cost associated with fuel, component purchasing and environmental impact, and the system
exergy eciency. The total cost rate of the system is minimized while the cycle exergy eciency is maximized using an evolutionary algo-
rithm. To provide further insight, the Pareto frontier is shown for a multi-objective optimization. In addition, a closed form relation
between exergy eciency and total cost rate is derived, and a sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the eects of several design param-
eters on the system total exergy destruction rate, total cost rate and exergy eciency.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Solar energy; Multigeneration; Optimization; Performance assessment

1. Introduction amount from traditional biomass (mainly used for heating)

Global electrical energy generation capacity is expected
to grow by 70% from 2010 to 2030, with renewable electri-
cal energy generation capacity increasing from 162 GW to
1019 GW worldwide over this time period (Martinot et al.,
2007). Renewable energy, derived from such natural
resources as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, geothermal
heat and biomass, are naturally replenished when used.
About 16% of global nal energy consumption is associ-
ated with renewable energy resources, with 10% of this
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: Pouria.Ahmadi@uoit.ca (P. Ahmadi), Ibrahim.
Dincer@uoit.ca (I. Dincer), Marc.Rosen@uoit.ca (M.A. Rosen).
and 3.4% from hydroelectricity (Dresselhaus and Thomas,
2001). Other renewable energy forms (small hydro, bio-
mass, wind, solar, geothermal) account for approximately
3% of the total but their use is growing. A large amount
of solar energy is stored as internal energy in the surface
waters of the worlds oceans, providing a source of renew-
able energy. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a
method for harvesting energy from the oceans, is a process
for harnessing this renewable energy in which a heat engine
operates between the relatively warm ocean surface, which
is exposed to the sun, and the colder (about 5 C) water
deeper in the ocean, in order to produce electricity.
OTEC usually incorporates a low-temperature Rankine
cycle which boils a working uid such as ammonia to

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2014.07.022
0038-092X/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 577

Nomenclature

A surface area (m2) gG generator eciency

CP specic heat at constant pressure (kJ/kg K) gWFP working uid pump isentropic eciency
d diameter (m) gCSP cold surface water pump isentropic eciency
Deq equivalent diameter (m) gWSP warm surface water pump isentropic eciency
E_ x exergy ow rate (kW) q density (kg/m3)
_ D
Ex exergy destruction rate (kW) W exergy eciency
_ electric
Ex electric exergy ow rate (kW)
g gravitational acceleration constant (m/s2) Subscripts
h specic enthalpy (kJ/kg) CRF capital recovery factor
I solar radiation intensity (W/m2) Cond condenser
L length (m) CS cold surface
m_ mass ow rate (kg/s) C condenser
P pressure (kPa) D destruction
Q_ heat transfer rate (kW) Evp evaporator
R gas constant (kJ/kg K) eq equivalent
s specic entropy (kJ/kg K) FPC at plate collector
S radiation ux (W/m2) G generator
T temperature (C or K) HEX heat exchanger
U overall heat transfer coecient (kW/m2 K) in inlet condition
V velocity (m/s) net net power
W_ work rate (kW) out outlet condition
W_ G turbine generator power (kW) P pump
W_ CS cold seawater pumping power (kW) RO reverse osmosis
W_ WF working uid power (kW) T turbine
W_ WS warm seawater pumping power (kW) WF working uid
Z cost ($) WS warm surface
Z_ cost rate ($/h) 0 reference environment condition

Greek letters Superscripts

g energy eciency  rate
gT turbine isentropic eciency

generate a vapor, which rotates a turbine to generate elec-
tricity. The working uid then is condensed back to a liquid
in a continuous process. 80% of the energy that is received
from the sun by the earth is stored in the worlds oceans
(Tchanche et al., 2011; Faizal and Rauddin Ahmed,
2011), and many regions of the world have access to this
OTEC resource. OTEC can produce fuels by using the gen-
erated electricity to produce hydrogen, which can be used
in hydrogen fueled cars as well as in the development of
synthetic fuels. For a small city, millions of tons of CO2
are generated annually through fossil fuel use while with
OTEC the value is zero or almost zero, during the opera-
tion of devices. OTEC has the potential to replace some
fossil fuel use, perhaps via OTEC ships travelling the seas
of the world.
An OTEC system utilizes low-grade energy and typically
has a low energy eciency (approximately 510%). There-
fore, achieving a high electricity generating capacity with
OTEC requires the use of large quantities of seawater
and, correspondingly, a high pumping power. These fac-
tors detract from the cost-eectiveness of this technology,
making it non-viable commercially today. In order to
improve the eectiveness and economics of OTEC cycles,
it is proposed to integrate them with industrial operations
so that, apart from generating electricity, they can be used
for fresh water production, air conditioning and refrigera-
tion, and hydrogen production (Tchanche et al., 2011).
Potential sites for OTEC have been identied, mainly in
the Pacic ocean, and about 50 countries are examining
its implementation as a sustainable source of energy and
fresh water, including India, Korea, Palau, Philippines,
the U.S. and Papua New Guinea (Meegahapola et al.,
2007). In 2001, as a result of cooperation between Japan
and India, a 1-MW OTEC plant was built in India
(Meegahapola et al., 2007), and others are planned to be
constructed in the near future (Esteban and Leary, 2012).
Some research has been directed to the development of
OTEC recently. Uehara (Uehara and Nakaoka, 1984;
Uehara and Ikegami, 1990; Uehara et al., 1996) conducted
numerous theoretical and experimental studies on the
major components of an OTEC plant, and showed that
ammonia is a suitable working uid for an OTEC plant
578 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
employing a closed organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The
energy eciency of the Rankine cycle in an OTEC plant
is usually no more than 5%, due to the small temperature
dierences between surface waters and deep waters of the
ocean. Thus, in order to improve the eciency of OTEC,
other thermodynamic cycles are being considered such as
the Kalina and Uehara cycles, which use an ammonia
water mixture as the working uid (Yamada et al., 2009);
these cycles are reported to have higher energy eciencies
than a Rankine cycle operating with the same temperature
dierence (Yamada et al., 2009). Increasing the tempera-
ture dierence between the heat source and the colder heat
sink can improve the eciency of OTEC plants, as can the
integration of OTEC with other energy technologies. Sai-
toh and Yamada (Yamada et al., 2009) proposed a concep-
tual design of a multiple Rankine-cycle system using both
solar thermal energy and ocean thermal energy in order
to improve eciency.
The overall eciency of conventional power plants that
use a fossil fuel with a single prime mover is usually less
than 40%, although advanced plants can achieve higher
values. That is, more than 60% of the heating value of
the fuel entering a conventional power plant is lost. Multi-
generation energy systems, which in general produce sev-
eral useful outputs from one or more kinds of energy
inputs, can provide many benets, including increased e-
ciency and correspondingly reduced thermal losses and
wastes, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, reduced operat-
ing costs, shorter transmission lines, fewer distribution
units, multiple generation options, increased reliability,
and reduced likelihood of grid failure.
Ahmadi et al. (2012) carried out an exergy-based optimi-
zation of a multigeneration energy system, containing a gas
turbine as a prime mover, for electricity generation, heat-
ing, cooling and domestic hot water production. They
applied a multi-objective evolutionary based optimization
to nd the best design parameters of the system, consider-
ing exergy eciency and total system cost as the two objec-
tive functions. Dincer and Zamrescu (2012) performed
energy and exergy analyses of renewable energy-based mul-
tigeneration, considering several options for such products
as electricity, heat, hot water, cooling, hydrogen and fresh
water. Ozturk and Dincer (2012) conducted a thermody-
namic analysis of a solar-based multigeneration system
with hydrogen production. The solar-based multigenera-
tion considered for this analysis consists of four main
sub-systems: Rankine cycle, organic Rankine cycle,
absorption cooling and heating, and hydrogen production
and utilization. The exergy eciencies and destructions for
the subsystems and the overall system show that parabolic
dish collectors have the highest exergy destruction rate of
the components of the solar-based multigeneration system.
Ahmadi et al. (2013) assessed and optimized a novel
integrated multigeneration system for residential buildings.
The proposed multigeneration system included a heat
recovery unit, an organic Rankine cycle, an ejector refriger-
ation cycle, a domestic water heater and a proton exchange
membrane (PEM) electrolyzer, and the application was a
two-story residential detached house in Brampton,
Ontario, Canada. Ozturk and Dincer (2013) performed a
thermodynamic assessment of an integrated solar power
tower and coal gasication system for multigeneration,
including a parametric study to determine the eect of
design parameters on energy and exergy eciencies of the
system.
The main purposes of using multigeneration often are to
increase eciency and sustainability and to reduce environ-
mental impact (including global warming) and cost, and
the research reported to date suggests that multigeneration
can support these purposes.
The primary objective of the present research is to
improve understanding of multigeneration, by performing
thermodynamic modeling and exergy and economic analy-
ses, of an integrated solar and OTEC based multigenera-
tion system based on at plate and PV/T solar collectors,
a reverse osmosis (RO) desalination unit to produce fresh
water, a single eect absorption chiller, an OTEC cycle
and a PEM electrolyzer that produces hydrogen. Such mul-
tigeneration system can be complicated and expensive, but
it may nevertheless be benecial for a coastal area where
the needs of several useful commodities exist simulta-
neously largely because it is based on renewable energy.
Therefore, considering environmental costs is necessary
when comparing this integrated energy system with a nat-
ural gas red combined cycle power plant. In addition,
the exergy eciency of this system is higher than that for
the natural gas-based system, as it generates electricity with
a low temperature. As a consequence, this study stresses
the importance of integrated renewable-based energy sys-
tems for sustainable development. The main steps of this
study are:
 To thermodynamically model this integrated energy
system.
 To conduct exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of
this integrated system.
 To apply a multi-objective optimization technique
based on a code developed in the Matlab software
program using an evolutionary algorithm.
 To propose a new closed-form expression for the
exergy eciency in terms of total cost rate at the
optimal design point.
 To derive an equation for the Pareto optimal points
curve that can serve as an aid for designing optimal
multigeneration plants.
 To perform sensitivity analyses of the variation of
each objective function with the main design param-
eters of the system.
 To select the nal optimum design point using a
decision-making method.
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 579

Fig. 1. Schematic of renewable energy-based multigeneration system for the provision of heating, cooling, electricity, hydrogen, fresh water and hot water.

Table 1
2. System description Properties of ammonia (working uid for OTEC cycle).
Parameter Value
Fig. 1 shows a schematic of an integrated OTEC system Chemical formula NH3
equipped with at plate and PV/T solar collectors, a Molar mass (kg/kmol) 17
reverse osmosis (RO) desalination unit, a single eect Boiling temperature (C) 33.2
absorption chiller and a PEM electrolyzer. This integrated Density (kg/m3) 225
Freezing temperature (C) 77.7
system uses the warm surface seawater to evaporate a
working uid (ammonia in this study, with the thermody-
namic properties listed in Table 1), which drives an ORC
absorbing the suns heat on its panels. Hot air leaves the
turbine to produce electricity, which in turn is used to drive
PV/T solar panel at point 40 and enters the absorption chil-
a PEM electrolyzer to produce hydrogen. The processes
ler generator to drive the chiller. The electricity generated
comprising the OTEC system are shown on a TS diagram
by the PV/T unit is directed to a RO desalination plant
in Fig. 2. After passing through the turbine, the vapor is
to produce fresh water. In this multigeneration system,
condensed in a heat exchanger that is cooled by cold deep
electricity generated by the OTEC plant is used to produce
seawater. The working uid is then pumped back through
hydrogen using a PEM electrolyzer at point 22. The pro-
the warm seawater heat exchanger, and the cycle is
duced hydrogen is stored in a hydrogen storage tank for
repeated continuously. Warm surface water is pumped
later usage.
from the ocean surface at point 1. A warm surface pump
increases the pressure where the high pressure warm water
enters a at plate collector at point 2 to increase its temper- 3. Thermodynamic modeling and analysis
ature. Water enters an evaporator at point 3 and, after heat
exchange with the ORC uid, leaves the evaporator at For thermodynamic modeling, the multigeneration sys-
point 4 where it is released back to the ocean surface. A tem considered here (Fig. 1) is divided into ve sub-sys-
PV/T solar panel satises the cooling load of the system. tems: (1) OTEC system, (2) solar systems, (3) single-eect
Air enters the PV/T panel at point 41 and is warmed by absorption chiller, (4) proton exchange membrane (PEM)
580 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591

Fig. 2. Ts diagram of the ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) cycle.

electrolyzer, and (5) reverse osmosis desalination unit. We where (DHWS)SP is the friction loss of the straight pipe and
determine the temperature prole in the multigeneration (DHWS)B is the bending loss on the warm seawater pipe,
plant, input and output enthalpies, exergy ows, destruc- which are given as (Nihous and Vega, 1993):
tions and eciencies, and environmental impacts. The rel-  1:85
evant energy balances and governing equations for the LWS V WS
DH WS SP 6:82 1:17  ; C WS 100 6
main sections of the multigeneration plant in Fig. 1 are d WS C WS
described in the following subsections. X V2
DH WS B km WS 7
2g
3.1. Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC)
Here, LWS is the length of the warm seawater pipe, dWS is
As shown in Fig. 1, the electricity production unit is the warm seawater inner pipe diameter and VWS is the
based on an organic Rankine cycle which is suitable for velocity of warm seawater inside the pipe. Also, (DHWS)E
low-grade heat. The net power output of the system is is the pressure dierence of warm seawater in the evapora-
expressible as tor, expressible as
W_ net W_ G  W_ WS W_ CS W_ WF 1
V 2WS LE
DH WS E kE 8
where W_ G is the turbine generator power, W_ WS and W_ CS are 2g Deq W
the warm and cold seawater pumping powers, and W_ WF is
where LE is the length of the evaporator plate (4 m in this
working uid pumping power.
study) and kE is 0.068, as reported in reference (Nihous and
 Turbine generator power
Vega, 1993). Also, Deq is the equivalent diameter, which is
The turbine output power, determined via an the energy
calculated as
balance for a control volume around the turbine, is the
product of working uid mass ow rate, m_ F and the adia- Deq 2d 9
batic heat loss rate between the evaporator and the con-
where d is the clearance.
denser, as follows:
 Cold seawater pumping power
W_ G m_ F gT gG h5  h6 2 The cold seawater pumping power can be expressed as
Here, gT and gG are the turbine isentropic eciency and m_ CS DH CW g
generator mechanical eciency, respectively. W_ CS 10
gCSP
 Warm seawater pumping power
The warm seawater pumping power can be written as where gCSP is the cold seawater pump eciency and DHCW
is the total pump head of the cold seawater piping, given as
m_ WS DH WS g
W_ WS 3
gWSP DH CS DH CS P DH CS C DH CS d 11
where DHWS is the total pump head dierence of the warm Here, (DHCS)P is the pump head of the cold seawater pipe
seawater piping (Nihous and Vega, 1993): (Nihous and Vega, 1993):
DH WS DH WS P DH WS E 4
DH CS P DH CS SP DH CS B 12
Here, (DHWS)P is the pump head of the warm seawater
pipe, which can be expressed as: These two terms are similar to the terms in Eqs. (6) and (7).
Also, (DHCS)C is the cold seawater pressure dierence in
DH WS P DH WS SP DH WS B 5 the condenser, expressible as
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 581

V 2CS LC on research by Joshi et al. (2009)), sg is the transitivity of

DH CS C kC 13 the solar panel glass (0.95 here) and A is the solar collector
2g Deq C
area (in m2). The rate of useful thermal energy obtained
where LC is the length of the evaporator plate and kC is from the PV/T air collector is thus obtained as follows:
taken from reference (Nihous and Vega, 1993). Also, Deq
is the equivalent diameter given in Eq. (13) and (DHCS)d m_ air Cpair  
is the pressure dierence caused by the density dierence Q_ solar _  U L T air;in  T 0
hP 2Z Z I
UL
between the warm seawater surface and cold deeper seawa-   
bU L L
ter (Nihous and Vega, 1993):  1  exp 21
  m_ air Cpair
1 1
DH CS d LCS  q qCS LCS 14
qCS 2 WS where Z is dened as
Z ab s2g 1  bc hP 1G sg bc ac  gc 22
3.2. Flat plate solar collector
Here ac is the absorptivity of the solar cell (0.85) and ab is
As shown in Fig. 1, water enters the solar collector at the absorptivity of a surface (0.9). In Eq. (21), UL is the
point 2 and is heated. The useful heat gain rate by the overall heat transfer coecient from the solar cell to the
working uid can be written as ambient environment through the top and back surfaces
of the insulation 4:71 mW2 K . The air outlet temperature of
Q_ u mC
_ p T 3  T 2 15 the PV/T panel can be calculated an energy balance for
where T3, T2, Cp and m_ are the water outlet temperature, the panel as follows:
inlet temperature, specic heat at constant pressure and 8
9
 < 1  exp bU L L =
mass ow rate. The heat gain by the at plate collector, _
hP 2G Z I m_ air Cpair
considering heat losses from the collector, is calculated T air;out T0 1
UL : bU L L
m_ air Cpair
;
with the HottelWhillier equation as (Farahat et al., 2009):
2
3
1  exp m_bU LL

Q_ u AP F R saI  QL  16 T air;in 4
air Cp air
5 23
bU L L
m_ air Cpair
Here, FR is heat removal factor, dened as:
" n o# The thermal eciency of the PV/T collector is dened as
F 0 U l AP
_ p
mC  mC
Q_
_ p
FR 1e 17
U l AP gth 24
_
IbL
Here, F0 is the collector eciency factor, which is approxi- Here, I_ is the solar intensity and b and L are the width and
mately 0.914 for this case (Farahat et al., 2009), and Ul is length, respectively, of the PV/T panel.
the overall collector loss coecient, obtained from
Farahat et al. (2009). In Eq. (16), (sa) is optical eciency 3.4. Absorption chiller
and I is solar radiation intensity. Also, QL is dened as:
The principle of mass conservation and the rst and sec-
QL U l T in  T 0 18
ond laws of thermodynamics are applied to each compo-
The energy eciency of the solar at plate collector is nent of the single-eect absorption chiller. In our
expressed as analysis, each component is considered as a control volume
with inlet and outlet streams as well as heat and work inter-
Q_ u
g 19 actions. Mass balances are applied for the total mass and
IAP each material of the working uid solution. The governing
and conservation equations for total mass and each mate-
3.3. Solar PV/T system rial of the solution for a steady state and steady ow case
follow (Farshi et al., 2012):
In this integrated multigeneration energy system, a PV/ X X
m_ i m_ o 25
T solar panel is considered as shown on the left side of
Fig. 1. To model the PV/T system, we consider the
X X
approach used by Joshi et al. (2009). The power produced mx
_ i mx
_ 0 26
by the PV module is calculated as
Here, m_ is the working uid mass ow rate and x is mass
W_ gc Ib
_ c sg A 20
concentration of Li-Br in the solution. For each compo-
where gc is the solar cell eciency, equal to 0.38 in this nent of the absorption system, a general energy balance is
study, bc is the packing factor of solar cell (0.83 here based written:
582 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
X X
Q_  W_ m_ o ho  m_ i hi 27 DP m_ 13
W_ pump 30
gpump q13
The cooling load of the absorption chiller is dened as
DP m_ 16 gturbine
W_ turbine 31
q16
Q_ cooling mh
_ 28  h27 28
where DP is the trans-membrane pressure and gpump and
Further information about the thermodynamic modeling gturbine are the RO pump and hydro-turbine isentropic e-
and energy balances for each component is given in ciencies respectively. The target fresh water ow rate m_ 15 is
Palacios-Bereche and Gonzales (2012). dependent on the electricity driving the RO and the recov-
ery ratio RR, which is a technical characteristics of the
3.5. PEM electrolyzer membrane, as follows:
m_ 13
The PEM electrolyzer for H2 production is illustrated m_ 15 32
RR
on the right side of Fig. 1. During electrolysis, electricity
and heat are both supplied to the electrolyzer to drive The trans-membrane pressure can be expressed as follows:
the electrochemical reactions. As shown in Fig. 1, liquid
DP J w  k m Dd 33
water at the ambient temperature enters a heat exchanger
and is heated to the PEM electrolyzer temperature before where km is the membrane permeability resistance, which
it enters the electrolyzer. Leaving the cathode, the H2 pro- 2s
has a value of 8:03  1011 kgm Pa and Jw is volumetric perme-
duced dissipates heat to the environment and cools to the ate ow rate, expressible as
reference environment temperature. The oxygen gas pro-
duced at the anode is separated from the water and oxygen m_ 15
Jw 34
mixture and then cooled to the reference environment tem- q15  nAmem
perature. The remaining water is returned to the water
supply stream for the next hydrogen production cycle. Here, n is the total number of membranes (600 in this
The overall PEM electrolysis reaction is water splitting, study), q15 is the density at point 15 and Amem is the area
i.e., electricity and heat are used to separate water into of the membrane. Also, Dd is the trans-membrane osmotic
hydrogen and oxygen. Hydrogen is stored in a tank for pressure, which can be expressed as follows:
later usage. More details about the thermochemical mod-
Dd 805:1  105 C w R 35
eling of the PEM electrolyzer are given elsewhere
(Ahmadi et al., 2012). Here, Cw is the membrane wall concentration, which can be
determined as
3.6. Reverse osmosis (RO) desalination unit jw
eK mass x39
A typical seawater reverse osmosis-desalination plant Cw jw 36
eK mass 1  R R
r r
consists of three major processes: seawater intake, pre-
treatment and RO (in which the main separation process where Rr denotes the membrane rejection coecient
occurs). The RO system includes a high pressure pump, a (0.9975 in this study, based on Salcedo et al. (2012)). Also,
membrane separation unit and an energy recuperation sys- Kmass is the mass transfer coecient, expressible as follows:
tem. The raw water is pressurized by a high pressure pump
and then supplied to the membranes where seawater desa- Ds
K mass 0:04Re0:75 Sc0:33 37
lination occurs. Here, a standard RO unit based on a typ- d
ical seawater RO plant consisting of a single RO stage of b
where Ds is the diusivity and d is the feed channel thick-
trains is considered, according to Salcedo et al. (2012). The 2
ness (1:45  7 ms and 0.71 mm respectively). The Reynolds
rejected brine is pressurized at the outlet of the RO stage
number is determined as
and then passes through a hydro-turbine in order to
recover part of the energy consumed by the high pressure m_ 13
Re13 38
pump. In order to model the RO desalination unit, mass N ch W m l13  N P
and energy balances are used as follows:
where Nch and NP denote the number of feed channels and
W_ net bn W_ pump  W_ turbine 29 the number of pressure vessels respectively, l13 is the
dynamic viscosity of the water and Wm is the RO mem-
brane with (0.243 m in this study). Also, in Eq. (37), Sc
Here, bn is the number of trains (7 in our study) and W_ pump is the Schmidt number, dened as
and W_ turbine are the work rate interactions required by the
RO pump and the hydro-turbine respectively, expressible l13
Sc 39
as: q13 Ds
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 583

4. Exergy analysis Here, the exergy of each ow is calculated at all states

and the changes in exergy are determined for each major
Exergy analysis can help develop strategies and guide- component. The exergy destruction rates for all compo-
lines for more ecient and eective use of energy and mate- nents in this multigeneration system (Fig. 1) are listed in
rial, and can be utilized for many processes, including Table 2. The exergy eciency is dened as the product
power generation, CHP, trigeneration and multigenera- exergy output divided by the exergy input.
tion. The exergy of a substance is often divided into four According to Yamada et al. (2009), the exergy eciency
components. Two common ones are physical and chemical of the ORC power generation cycle in an OTEC system,
exergy. The two others, kinetic and potential exergy, are depending on the operation mode, can be written as
assumed to be negligible here, as elevation changes are
small and speeds are relatively low (Kotas, 1986; Bejan W_ net W_ net;OTEC
WPower 47
and Moran, 1996; Dincer and Rosen, 2013). Physical exer- _ in Ex
Ex _ in;WS Ex_ in;CS
gy is dened as the maximum useful work obtainable as a W_ net;OTEC W_ PV =T
system interacts with an equilibrium state. Chemical exergy WCHP 48
_Exin;WS Ex _ in;CS Ex_ Sun
is associated with the departure of the chemical composi-
tion of a system from its chemical equilibrium and is con- W_ net;ORC W_ PV =T Ex
_ cooling Ex
_ H2 Ex
_ 22
Wmulti 49
sidered important in processes involving combustion and _ in;WS Ex
Ex _ in;CS Ex
_ Sun
other chemical changes (Kotas, 1986). More details about
where
exergy are given elsewhere (Dincer and Rosen, 2013;
Ahmadi et al., 2013a, 2013b). For the absorption cooling _ in;WS m_ in;WS hWS;in  h0  T 0 sWS;in  s0 
Ex 50
system, because water and the Li-Br solution are not an _ in;CS m_ in;CS hCS;in  h0  T 0 sCS;in  s0 
Ex 51
ideal, the following expression is used for calculation of
the molar chemical exergy: Here, the reference-environment state is taken to be
" # P0 = 1.01 bar and T0 = 298.15 K.
X
n X
n
k
exch 1=M sol y i exch RT 0 y i lnai 40
5. Economic analysis
i1 i1

Extending this equation for the LiBr water solution we The renewable energy-based multigeneration system in
obtain: Fig. 1 has various components. In this section, the pur-
" # chase cost functions of each subsystem is explained.
y H2 O ex0H2 O y LiBr ex0LiBr
exch 1M sol 41
RT 0 y H2 O lnaH2 O y LiBr lnaLiBr 5.1. Subsystem costs
Here, aH2 O is water activity dened as vapor pressure of
water in the mixture divided by vapor pressure of pure  PV/T solar collector
water and aLiBr is the LiBr activity dened as the vapor The purchase cost of PV/T solar collector is a function
pressure of LiBr in the mixture divided by the vapor pres- of the collector area and can be expressed as follows (Al-
sure of LiBr. This equation consists of two parts, the stan- Alili et al., 2012):
dard chemical exergy of a pure species and the exergy due
Z PV =T $ 310nx ny Lb 52
to the dissolution process, dened as follows:
1 where nx and ny is the number of PV/T collectors in series
ex0ch y H2 O ex0H2 O y LiBr ex0LiBr 42 and parallel respectively, and L and b are the PV/T length
M sol
and width respectively.
RT 0
exdis y H O lnaH2 O y LiBr lnaLiBr  43
ch
M sol 2  Flat plate solar collector in OTEC cycle
where yi is the molar fraction dened as As shown in Fig. 1, a at plate solar collector is used
with the OTEC system to increase the eciency of the sys-
1  x1w M LiBr tem. The purchase cost of the solar at plate collector can
y H2 O 44
1  x1w M LiBr x1w M H2 O be expressed as
y LiBr 1  y H2 O 45
Z FPC $ 235AFPC 53
Here, x1w is dened as
Here, AFPC is the at plate collector area, in m2.
xLiBr
x1w 46  OTEC cycle
100
The OTEC cycle has four major components, for each
where xLiBr is the LiBr water solution concentration in per- of which the cost is described as follows:
cent and M LiBr and M H 2 O are 86.85 kg/kmol and 18.02 kg/
kmol respectively.  OTEC turbine and generator
584 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591

The cost function of the ORC turbine can be calculated 5.2. Capital recovery factor (CRF)
as follows (Peters et al., 1968):
0:75 0:95
A capital recovery factor is the ratio of a constant annu-
Z T $ 4750W_ T 60W_ T 54 ity to the present value of receiving that annuity for a given
Here, W_ T is the power generated by the turbine in kW. length of time (Bejan and Moran, 1996). Using an interest
rate i, the capital recovery factor is dened as
 OTEC evaporator n
The purchase cost of OTEC evaporator can be calcu- i  1 i
CRF n 61
lated as follows (Peters et al., 1968): 1 i  1

Q_ EVP Here, i denotes the interest rate and n the total operating
Z EVP $ 276AEVP 0:88 ; AEVP 55 period of the system in years.
U EVP DT ln
Here, UEVP is the overall heat transfer coecient for the
5.3. Cost rate
evaporator, which is taken to be 4:39 mkW2 K (Peters et al.,

1968).
Since each device in a system is expected to be working
 Condenser in a specic time frame, the cost rate of each device is a
The purchase cost of an OTEC condenser can be calcu- good indicator of the cost rate in $/s represented by Z. _
lated as follows (Uehara and Nakaoka, 1984; Peters et al., The cost rate of each device is determined as
1968): Z k CRF U
Z_ 62
Q_ Cond N  3600
Z Cond $ 150ACond 0:8 ; ACond 56
U Cond DT ln where Zk is the purchase cost of the kth component, and
Here, UCond is the overall heat transfer coecient for the CRF is the capital recovery factor (Eq. (61)). Also, N is
the annual number of operation hours for the unit, and
evaporator 4:69 mkW2K (Uehara and Nakaoka, 1984).
u is the maintenance factor, which is often 1.06 (Bejan
 Pumps and Moran, 1996).
The following expression is used to calculate the cost of
the OTEC pumps (Uehara et al., 1988): 6. Multi-objective optimization
0:41
Z Pump $ 3500W_ P 57
A multi-objective optimization method based on an evo-
Here, W_ P is the pump work rate in kW. lutionary algorithm is applied to the multigeneration sys-
 Absorption chiller tem for heating, cooling, electricity, hot water, fresh
The purchase cost of the absorption chiller is a function water and hydrogen to determine the best design parame-
of all design parameters for the chiller, but can be com- ters for the system. Objective functions, design parameters
pactly approximated as a function of the cooling load of and constraints, and overall optimization are described in
the chiller as follows (Lian et al., 2010): this section.
0:67
Z chiller $ 1144:3Q_ EVP 58
6.1. Denition of objectives
Here, Q_ EVP is the cooling load of the absorption chiller in
kW, which can be calculated with an energy balance for Two objective functions are considered here for multi-
the control volume around the evaporator shown in Fig. 1. objective optimization: exergy eciency (to be maximized)
 PEM electrolyzer and total cost rate of product (to be minimized). Conse-
The purchase cost of the electrolyzer is a function of the quently, the objective functions in this analysis can be
inlet electricity to split water, which can be expressed as expressed as follows:
(Genc et al., 2012):
6.2. Exergy eciency
Z PEM $ 1000W_ PEM 59
Here, W_ PEM is the electrical power required to split water in W_ net;ORC W_ PV =T Ex
_ cooling Ex
_ H2 Ex
_ 22
the electrolyzer. Wmulti 63
_ in;WS Ex
Ex _ in;CS Ex
_ Sun
 Reverse osmosis desalination unit
The cost of the RO desalination unit in this multigener-
ation system can be expressed as follows (Bruno et al., 6.3. Total cost rate
2008):
Z RO $ 0:98m3 60 X
where m is the fresh water mass in kg. C_ tot Z_ k C_ env 64
k
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 585

where the cost rates of environmental impact and fuel are 7. Results and discussion
expressed as
The genetic algorithm optimization is performed for 300
C_ env C Co2 m_ Co2 and C_ f cf m_ f LHV 65 generations, using a search population size of M = 100
individuals, a crossover probability of pc = 0.9, a gene
Here, Z_ K is the purchase cost of each component, as mutation probability of pm = 0.035 and a controlled elitism
explained in the previous section. value c = 0.55. The results of the optimization are given
and described below.
6.4. Decision variables
7.1. Optimization results
The following decision variables (design parameters) are
selected for this study: warm surface mass ow rate m_ WS , Fig. 3 shows the Pareto frontier solution for this multi-
OTEC evaporator pinch point temperature (PP) dierence, generation system with objective functions indicated in
OTEC turbine isentropic eciency (gT), pump isentropic Eqs. (63) and (64) for the multi-objective optimization. It
eciency (gp), absorption chiller evaporator temperature can be seen in this gure that the total cost rate of products
(TEVP), PV/T inlet air mass ow rate m_ air , PV/T collector increases moderately as the total exergy eciency of the
length (L), PV/T collector width (b) and OTEC condenser cycle increases to about 45%. Increasing the total exergy
temperature (TCond). Although the decision variables may eciency from 45% to 70% increases the cost rate of the
be varied in the optimization procedure, each is normally product signicantly. The results of optimum exergy e-
required to be within a reasonable range. Such constraints, ciency and total cost rate for all points evaluated over
based on earlier reports are listed in Table 3. 300 generations are shown in Fig. 4. The Pareto-optimal
curve (best rank) is clearly visible in the lower part of the
6.5. Evolutionary algorithm: genetic algorithm gure (red line) which is separately shown in Fig. 3. As
shown in that gure, the maximum exergy eciency exists
Genetic algorithms apply an iterative, stochastic search at design point C (73.63%), while the total cost rate of
strategy to nd an optimal solution and imitate in a simpli- products is the greatest at this point (161.58 $/hr).On the
ed manner principles of biological evolution (Srinivas and other hand, the minimum value for the total cost rate of
Deb, 1994; Ghaarizadeh et al., 2011; Deb et al., 2002). A product occurs at design point A which is about 143.7 $/
characteristic of an evolutionary algorithm is a population hr. Design point A is the optimal situation when the total
of individuals, where an individual consists of the values of cost rate of the product is the sole objective function, while
the decision variables (structural and process variables design point C is the optimum point when exergy eciency
here) and is a potential solution to the optimization prob- is the sole objective function. In multi-objective optimiza-
lem (Srinivas and Deb, 1994). More details about genetic tion, a process of decision-making for selection of the nal
algorithms and their procedure are given elsewhere (Deb optimal solution from the available solutions is required.
et al., 2002; Zitzler et al., 2000). The process is usually performed with the aid of a hypo-
thetical point in Fig. 3 (the ideal point), at which both
objectives have their optimal values independent of the
Table 2 other objectives. It can be clearly seen that it is not feasible
Expressions for exergy destruction rates for components of the system. to have both objectives at their optimum point simulta-
Component Exergy destruction rate expression
Warm sea water pump _ D;WSP Ex
Ex _ 1 W_ P  Ex_ 2
Cold sea water pump _ D;CSP Ex
Ex _ 9 W_ P  Ex_ 10
Flat plate solar collector _ D;FP Ex
Ex _ 2 Ex
_ sun  Ex_ 3
Turbine _ D;T Ex
Ex _ 5  W_ T  Ex_ 6
Condenser _ D;Cond Ex
Ex _ 6 Ex
_ 10  Ex_ 7  Ex
_ 11
WF pump _ D;P Ex
Ex _ 7 W_ P  Ex_ 8
Solar PV/T _ D;PV =T Ex
Ex _ 41 Ex_ sun  Ex
_ 40
Absorption condenser _ D;Cond Ex
Ex _ 39  Ex_ 26  Ex
_ Q
Absorption expansion _ D;EXV Ex
Ex _ 26  Ex_ 27
valves
Absorption evaporator _ D;EVP Ex
Ex _ 27  Ex_ 28 Ex
_ Q
Absorber _ D;Abs Ex
Ex _ 28 Ex_ 38 Ex
_ 31  Ex_ 32  Ex_ 33
Absorption pump _ D;P Ex
Ex _ 33 W_ P  Ex _ 34
Absorption heat exchanger _ D;HEX Ex
Ex _ 34 Ex_ 36  Ex
_ 35  Ex_ 37
Absorption generator _ D;Gen Ex
Ex _ 35 Ex_ 40  Ex_ 41  Ex_ 39  Ex
_ 36
PEM electrolyzer _ D;PEM Ex
Ex _ 24a W_ PEM  Ex _ 22  Ex
_ 21
RO pump _ D;ROPump Ex
Ex _ 13 W_ P  Ex _ 14
RO desalination unit _ D;ROdesalination Ex
Ex _ 14  Ex
_ 16  Ex_ 15
RO hydraulic turbine _ D;hturbine Ex
Ex _ 16  W_ T  Ex _ 17
Fig. 3. Pareto Frontier: best trade o values for the objective functions.
586 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591

Table 3
Optimization constraints and their rationales.
Constraint Rationale
100 kg/s < m_ WS < 150 kg/s Due to pump required work limitation
3 C < PP < 6 C Due to heat transfer limit
0.5 kg/s < m_ air < 2 kg/s Due to commercial availability
0.8 m < L < 2 m Due to heat transfer limit
gT < 0.9 Due to commercial availability
gp < 0.9 Due to commercial availability
3 C < TEVP < 7 C Due to cooling load limitation
0.4 m < b < 0.7 m Due to commercial availability
5 C < TCond < 9 C Due to heat transfer limit

increases. As previously stated, point A is preferred when

Fig. 4. Results of all evaluations during 300 generations using genetic
algorithm. A clear approximation of the Pareto front is visible on the
lower part of the gure.
neously and, as shown in Fig. 3, the ideal point is not a
solution located on the Pareto frontier. The closest point
of the Pareto frontier to the ideal point might be considered
as a desirable nal solution. Nevertheless, in this case, the
Pareto optimum frontier exhibits a weak equilibrium i.e., a
small change in exergy eciency from varying the operat-
ing parameters causes a large variation in the total cost rate
of the product. Therefore, the ideal point cannot be utilized
for decision-making in this problem. In selection of the
nal optimum point, it is desired to achieve a better mag-
nitude for each objective than its initial value for the base
case problem. Note that in multi-objective optimization
and the Pareto solution, each point can be utilized as the
optimized point. Therefore, the selection of the optimum
solution depends on the preferences and criteria of the deci-
sion maker, suggesting that each may select a dierent
point as for the optimum solution depending on his/her
needs. Table 4 shows all the design parameters for points
AC. As shown in Fig. 3, the optimized values for exergy
eciency on the Pareto frontier range between 30% and
70%. To provide a good relation between exergy eciency
and total cost rate, a curve is tted on the optimized points
obtained from the evolutionary algorithm. This tted curve
is shown in Fig. 4 and the expression for this tted curve
follows:
43:55w3 96:17w2  93:68w 26:57
C_ total 66
w2  0:78w 0:2
the total cost rate is the sole objective function, and design
point C when exergy eciency is the sole objective func-
tion. Design point B exhibits better results for both objec-
tive functions. Other thermodynamic properties correctly
conrm this trend. For instance, from point B to C, the
total exergy destruction rate decreases when the exergy e-
ciency increases. In order to better understand the varia-
tions of all design parameters, the scattered distribution
of the design parameters are shown in Figs. 57. In Figs. 5
7, it can be seen that the PV/T length (Fig. 5), the pinch
point temperature (Fig. 5c), the turbine isentropic eciency
(Fig. 5d), the pump isentropic eciency (Fig. 6a), the con-
denser temperature (Fig. 6c), the PV/T inlet air mass ow
rate (6d) and the PV/T width (Fig. 7) have scattered distri-
butions in their allowable domains, suggesting that these
parameters have important eects on the trade-o between
exergy eciency and total cost rate. Design parameters
selected with their maximum values indicate that they do
not exhibit a conict between two objective functions, dem-
onstrating that increasing those design parameters leads to
an improvement of both objective functions.
7.2. Sensitivity analysis results
A sensitivity analysis is performed to better understand
the results of the multi-objective optimization. The eects
of each of the design parameters for point AC on both
objective functions are investigated. Fig. 8 shows the eects
of PV/T length on system exergy eciency and total cost
rate. An increase in PV/T length is seen to have a negative
Table 4
Optimized values for design parameters of the system based on multi-
objective optimization.

This equation is allowable when the eciency varies Design parameter A B C

between 30% and 70%. To study the variation of thermo- L (m) 2 2.2 2.4
dynamic characteristics, three dierent points (A to C) on m_ WS (kg/s) 100.5 100.6 100.3
PP (C) 5 2.5 1.5
the Pareto frontier are considered. Table 5 shows the total
gT (%) 75 83 84
cost rate of the system, the total exergy destruction rate, gp (%) 81 77 76
the system exergy eciency, the cooling loads of the sys- TEVP (C) 3.5 4 3.5
tem, and the fresh water and hydrogen production rates TCond (C) 9 8 6
of the system. From point A to point C in this table, both m_ air (kg/s) 0.5 1.8 2
b (m) 0.6 0.7 0.7
the total cost rate of the system and exergy eciencies
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
Fig. 5. Scattered distribution of decision variables with population in Pareto frontier: (a) PV/T length, (b) warm surface mass ow rate, (c) pinch point
temperature, (d) turbine isentropic eciency.
eect on total cost rate and to increase the system exergy
eciency. An increase in PV/T length leads to an increase
in collector electricity production and heat input to the sin-
gle eect absorption chiller, resulting in an increase in the
system useful outputs and eciency. But, an increase in
this parameter correspondingly increases the purchase cost
of the PV/T collector, aecting the total cost rate of the sys-
tem. Since an increase in PV/T length has both positive and
negative eects on objective functions, its variation has a
scattered distribution (see Fig. 5a).
Fig. 9 shows the eect of variation in the mass ow
rate of warm surface water on both objective functions.
Specically, an increase in this parameter raises the total
cost rate and lowers the exergy eciency. The latter eect,
as previously noted, occurs because of the way an
increase in this parameter increases the net power output
while increasing the exergy input to the system. An
increase in warm surface mass ow rate raises the pur-
chase cost of the OTEC turbine and OTEC pumps,
increasing the total cost of the system. Fig. 10 shows
the eect of evaporator pinch point temperature variation
587
on both objective functions. An increase in this parameter
reduces the system exergy eciency because the higher
the pinch point temperature, the lower the energy utilized
in the evaporator, leading to a reduction of OTEC tur-
bine power output. However, an increase in pinch point
temperature when other design parameters are xed
decreases the heat transfer area for the evaporator and
correspondingly the total cost rate for the system.
Fig. 11 shows the eect of varying turbine isentropic e-
ciency (gT) on both objective functions. An increase in gT
results in an increase in system exergy eciency, because
of the increase in the turbine power output, and system
total cost. Fig. 11 also shows that increasing this param-
eter leads to an increase in turbine purchase and mainte-
nance cost. Since an increase in this parameter has
positive and negative eects on both objective functions,
the variation of this design parameter within its allowable
range exhibits a scattered distribution as shown in
Fig. 5d. Fig. 12 shows that pump isentropic eciency
does not have a signicant eect on either objective func-
tion, as its purchase cost is relatively insignicant.
588 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
Fig. 6. Scattered distribution of decision variables with population in Pareto frontier: (a) pump isentropic eciency, (b) chiller evaporator temperature, (c)
condenser temperature, (d) PV/T mass ow rate.
Fig. 7. Scattered distribution of decision variables with population in
Pareto frontier: PV/T width.
Fig. 13 shows the variation of the objective function as
absorption chiller evaporator temperature changes. An
increase in evaporator temperature raises the cooling load
of the absorption chiller and the chiller cost. Another
important factor in this integrated OTEC-based
multigeneration system is the condenser temperature.
Fig. 14 shows the eect of condenser temperature on both
objective functions, and demonstrates that an increase in
condenser temperature reduces the system exergy e-
ciency. This is due to the fact that an increase in condenser
temperature increases the condenser pressure, which in
turn results in an increase in heat rejected to the environ-
ment and therefore causes an increase in the outlet turbine
enthalpy, which nally reduces the turbine work. However,
an increase in condenser temperature has a positive eect
on the total cost rate of the system. When the condenser
temperature increases, the turbine work decreases, leading
to a decrease in the purchase cost of the condenser. At the
same time, there is an increase in condenser temperature
when other design parameters are xed. Fig. 15 shows
the eect of PV/T inlet air mass ow rate on both objective
functions. An increase in inlet air mass ow rate increases
the exergy eciency of the system. Heat input to the
absorption chiller generator increases when inlet air mass
ow rate increases and the higher is the input energy to
the generator, the higher is the cooling load of the system.
An increase in system cooling load increases the exergy e-
ciency of the system. Increasing the PV/T inlet air mass
ow rate also increases the total cost rate of the system,
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591 589

Table 5
Thermodynamic characteristics of three points on the Pareto frontier.
Point W_ net (kW) W _ D;tot (kW)
Ex Q_ cooling (kW) C_ tot ($/h) m_ H 2 (kg/h) m_ fresh (kg/h)
A 29 0.28 1242 40 143.8 0.10 312
B 52.5 0.60 1277 140.5 153.7 0.18 584.7
C 66.6 0.73 1248 146.54 161.6 0.23 720

Fig. 8. Eects of PV/T length on both objective functions. Fig. 10. Eects of OTEC evaporator pinch point temperature on both
objective functions.

Fig. 11. Eects of turbine isentropic eciency on both objective functions.

Fig. 9. Eects of warm surface mass ow rate on both objective functions.

mainly because it raises the cooling load of the system,
which in turn increases the system purchase cost. Since
an increase in this parameter has positive and negative
eects on both objective functions, the variation of this
design parameter within its allowable range exhibits a scat-
tered distribution as shown in Fig. 6d. Fig. 16 shows the
eect of PV/T width on both objective functions. An
increase in PV/T collector width is observed to increase
the system exergy eciency, mainly due to an increase in
collector area, which increases the electricity generated by
the PV/T and increases in the absorption chiller energy
input. An increase in this parameter also raises the PV/T
purchase cost, which is a function of collector area. Since
an increase in this parameter has positive and negative
eects on both objective functions, the variation of this
design parameter within its allowable range exhibits a scat-
tered distribution as shown in Fig. 7. In order to enhance
understanding of system performance, the cost of useful
outputs is calculated for the worst case in the optimization
study, for which the total cost of the system is highest. To
determine the cost of the useful out puts, the total cost of
the plant is divided by the summation of output power
and cooling load of the system (i.e., the main two outputs).
The results for point C show that the cost of the useful out-
puts are 0.01 $/kWh, which is reasonable for such a com-
plex system. In addition, this multigeneration energy
system has the possibility of increasing the eciency of
the system compared to a single generation plant.
590 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591

Fig. 12. Eects of pump isentropic eciency on both objective functions. Fig. 15. Eects of PV/T inlet air mass ow rate on both objective
functions.

Fig. 16. Eects of PV/T width on both objective functions.

Fig. 13. Eects of chiller evaporator temperature on both objective
functions.
8. Conclusions

The thermodynamic modeling and multi-objective opti-

mization reported here of a multigeneration energy system
provides useful information. A calculus-based optimization
approach using evolutionary algorithms (i.e. genetic algo-
rithms) allows multi-objective optimization of the multi-
generation plant. Fitting a curve on the optimized points
provides a closed form equation. The results show that sys-
tem performance is notably aected by the mass ow rate
of warm ocean surface water, solar radiation intensity, con-
denser temperature, PV/T collector length, PV/T collector
width, PV/T inlet air mass ow rate and evaporator pinch
point temperature dierence. Multi-objective optimization
shows that the OTEC evaporator pinch point temperature
dierence, the OTEC turbine isentropic eciency, the
pump isentropic eciency, the absorption chiller evapora-
tor temperature, the PV/T inlet air mass ow rate, the PV/
T collector length, the PV/T collector width and the OTEC
condenser temperature have scattered distributions in their
Fig. 14. Eects of condenser temperature on both objective functions.
allowable domains, suggesting that these parameters have
 P. Ahmadi et al. / Solar Energy 108 (2014) 576591
important eects on the trade-o between exergy eciency Farahat, S., Sarhaddi, F., Ajam, H., 2009. Exergetic optimization of at
and total cost rate. Other concluding remarks follow:
 Exergy eciency and total system cost rate rise with
increasing PV/T collector length, turbine isentropic e-
ciency, pump isentropic eciency, absorption chiller
evaporator temperature and PV/T collector inlet air
mass ow rate.
 An increase in pinch point temperature results in a
decrease in system exergy eciency and, when other
design parameters are xed, also results in a decrease
in heat transfer area for the evaporator, reducing the
total cost rate of the system.
 The best optimized point from the multi-objective opti-
mization has the exergy eciency of 60% while the total
cost rate of the system at this point is 154 $/h.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the support provided by the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada.
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