1.1. Background

The International Energy Agency (IEA) initiated Task 35 "PV/Thermal Solar Systems", a three year research program, on January 1, 2005, as part of the IEA Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC) Program. The objectives of this Task were to catalyze the development and market introduction of high quality and commercial competitive PV/Thermal Solar Systems, to increase general understanding of PV/T and contribute to internationally accepted standards on performance, testing, monitoring and commercial characteristics of PV/Thermal Solar Systems in the building sector.

The definition of PV/Thermal solar system is a combination of photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal components which produce both electricity and heat from one integrated system from the same surface area exposed to the sun. PV and solar thermal panels which operate side by side and not together are excluded from this definition