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To cite this article: Djamila Nebbali, Rezki Nebbali & Ahmed Ouibrahim (2018):
Improving photovoltaic panel performance via an autonomous air cooling system –
Experimental and numerical simulations, International Journal of Ambient Energy, DOI:
10.1080/01430750.2018.1517670
Article views: 2
*
. nebbali.publication@gmail.com
1
Improving photovoltaic panel performance via an autonomous air
cooling system – Experimental and numerical simulations
1. Introduction
Among the major objectives of renewable energy resources, there are the contribution
towards a better protection of the environment and the reduction of the impact on earth
warming. Besides these environmental concerns, there are also the concern of better
performance, lower running cost, greater reliability and continuity of electric power
comparable costs, so that they can adequately replace the currently dominant fossil fuels
in a state of exhaustion.
2
Several approaches are being explored, including the search of suitable materials as well
mostly used in the solar cell industry [1], at different forms (amorphous, polycrystalline
and monocrystalline) to enhance the panel efficiency [2, 3] up to 20%. Other semi-
higher manufacturing costs, and even excessively high in the case of Gallium arsenide
Other investigations are focused on cooling solar PV panels to reduce the rise of
their temperature known to affect strongly their efficiency [5]. Indeed, the combined
effect of solar radiation with high air temperatures, such as in the Saharan climate, can
strongly increase the temperature of solar panels which then significantly reduces their
longevity and affects their performances [6–8]. As a matter of fact, PV panels used for
28 years in the harsh Saharan climate, showed a fill factor (FF) degradation rate of
0.57% per year [8]. To solve this problem, several studies were conducted to propose
methods minimising the temperature rise and the efficiency loss. A review of cooling
techniques presents a wide range of different methods used and their impact on the
Among these methods, there are the hybrid PV/T requiring pump [10-13] that
ensure the circulation of coolant; hybrid system that uses the wind speed to operate a
turbine and also to cool the solar PV panel [14]. Investigations proposed the use of
3
water of bypass from the water irrigation to cool the PV panel by flowing under gravity
on the front face of the panel then collected at the lower edge and connected to the same
irrigation stream [15]. To cool the panel with low power consumption of the water
pump, an optimised water jet on the front face of the panel was proposed [16],
evaporative cooling [18] or water spray cooling [19]. A way to cool the panel by an
evaporative chimney was proposed [20], but a heavy method for just 7.6% efficiency
efficiency, the conducted investigation [21] concluded however that the realization of
such a system requires a source of water that can have an impact on the installation cost.
additional electrical energy to operate their cooling system, or they need a constant
supply of water, or finally the proposed cooling systems are complex, even heavy, and
free convection of ambient air through the PV panel provides an easier alternative
solution, although with low cooling effect [22]. The overview of studies on the
improvement of the performance of cooled PV panel show that there are different
methods. However, they require further research for their large-scale use and an
This investigation fits into this context. Its main objective is to provide a more
practical solution that allows an efficient cooling of the PV panels while minimizing the
loss of their performances under harsh climatic conditions characterised here by a solar
radiation of 1000Wm-2, no wind and a high ambient air temperature (50°C). The
4
solution involves injection of ambient air on the rear face of the panel by mean of fan,
2. Methodology
Since the supplied power by the PV panel to the fan is proportional to the mass
flow rate of air, it is necessary to determine the optimum operating point of the cooled
PV panel. For this purpose an experimental device was realized to measure the current
resulting from the prevailing climatic conditions (solar radiation, wind speed and
ambient air temperature). Using a genetic algorithm, these measurements were then
compared with those obtained from the one-diode electrical model in order to determine
the associated parameters. Then, the current, voltage, and power output of the solar
panel for all values of the solar radiation and the equilibrium temperature of the PV
were evaluated. Furthermore, the heat balances of the PV panel were performed to
uncooled PV panel, the heat balance only involves a single energy equation that can be
used together with an electrical model, to determine the PV panel power and therefore
its efficiency. However, in the case of the cooled PV panel, by the fan and under the
system of coupled equations of motion and energy that needs then a CFD tool (Fluent)
to be solved.
Thus, the numerical simulation were carried out after validating of the code and
the method by means of measured data (front face temperature, current and voltage in
two situations, uncooled and cooled). As a previous step, the heat balance was
conducted on each face of the panel. As a matter of fact, a part of solar radiation
5
absorbed by the panel, at the glass and silicon layers, is transferred from the front face
by long wave radiation and free convection, while the rear face transmits the heat by
forced convection to the air blown by the fan. Then, we can determine, under extreme
climatic conditions, the influence on the equilibrium temperature of the air mass flow
rate blown by the fan. Finally, we also considered that glass and silicon are internal heat
sources resulting from the heat balance of short and long wave radiations. The electric
power delivered by the PV panel was then calculated using the electrical model, and
taking into account the power part consumed by the fan, we deduced the net power
3. Experimental
3.1. PV panel characteristics and operating climate conditions
36.70° latitude and 4.06° longitude). The characteristics of the investigated PV panel are
specified in Table 1. The PV panel consists of five different layers of glass, silicon,
ARC, EVA, and Tedlar. The layers characteristics are summarized in Table 2.
The same PV panel was used in two situations: i).The uncooled PV panel, each of its
side was naturally cooled by the ambient air (Figure 2-a) ii). The cooled PV panel by
mean of a fan blowing ambient air only on its rear face while its front face naturally
6
It is here proposed to cool the PV panel by using a fan that blows ambient air on its rear
face. This PV panel delivers the required electrical power to the fan. Figure. 3 shows the
The fan of 0.08m diameter is settled on a plywood centred on the backside of the
PV panel (Figure 2-b). The air is blown on the rear face of the PV panel and is then
convected into the cavity between the plywood and the cooled panel surface. The
warmed air is evacuated at the end of the cavity from two opened sides (0.02m ×
0.18m).
3.3. Measurements
The fan flow rate, the temperature of the PV panel front face, climatic conditions (solar
radiation, wind speed and air temperature), current and voltage were measured. A hot
and two multimetres (DVM601-Velleman) were used for this purpose (Table 3).
AC-DC transformer which ensures 3 to 12V output for adjusting the fan power
concomitant to the airflow rate. For each value of the voltage applied to the fan (Figure
4-a) we measured the current intensity which allowed us to calculate the electrical
power o
P fa n consumed by the fan at the prevailing ambient air temperature T aoir . At the
same time, using the hot wire anemometer, we measured the air velocity at three
positions of the outflow surface of the duct as indicated in Figure 4-b. Therefore, the air
Q
3
W S
(1)
i i
i 1
where W1, W2 and W3 are the air velocity at the corresponding sections S1, S2 and S3 in
Figure 4-b
7
Thus, we obtained the characteristic curve (power vs. air flow rate, Figure 5) of the fan
at the measured ambient temperature. This obtained characteristic curve leads to define
the relationship (2) between the air volume flow rate and the power consumed by the
o
P fa n 1 .8 8 1 0 4 Q 3 (2)
The experiment was carried out ten times in order to evaluate the standard
deviation.
Moreover, according to the law of similitude, the power Pfan consumed by the fan for a
P fa n P fa n
o
T o
a ir / T a ir (3)
Taking into account the relation (2) together with (3), we obtain the following equation:
P fa n 1 .8 8 1 0
4
T o
a ir / T a ir Q 3 (4)
Q q / a ir and a ir a ir
o
T o
a ir / Ta ir (5)
It is then easy to obtain the following relation allowing to determine Pfan at given flow
P fa n 1 .8 8 1 0 4 T a ir / T aoir
2
q / o
a ir
3
(6)
The flow rate q is determined from the relation (7) below, where Pfan is obtained by
measurements of the voltage and current intensities absorbed by the fan during the
experiment:
1/ 3
2
4
q a ir
o
P fa n T o
a ir / T a ir / 1 .8 8 1 0
(7)
8
In the second step, we proceed to experiments on the PV panel. The PV panel
was exposed to the prevailing climatic conditions twenty minutes prior to measurements
in order to reach its equilibrium temperature. Then, the experiment was performed for
steady state. The front face temperature of the PV panel and climatic parameters were
measured (Tp, RG, wind speed W, Tair), which were followed by the measurements of
electric current and voltage provided by the PV panel for each value of the rheostat
resistance (Figure 6). Both electric current and voltage involving the fan were also
homogeneous, was measured at the center while for the cooled PV panel, the
temperature was measured on eight points at the median line (Figure 1).
We adopt a one-diode electrical model in order to calculate the current and voltage
delivered by the PV panel. For the uncooled panel, the homogeneous temperature
equilibrium of the PV panel was determined by solving the energy equation resulting
from the heat balance. For the cooled one, the temperature distribution was determined
by using the CFD code Fluent, which solved the coupled turbulent equations of motion
in fluid medium and energy equation in both solid (glass and silicon) and fluid domains.
In the literature, there are several mathematical models that describe the operation and
behaviour of a PV generator [25, 26]. The most widely used and classical is the one-
diode electrical model, which involves five parameters : photo-current IL, saturation
current Is, series resistance Rs, shunt resistance Rsh, and ideality factor parameter a [27–
9
29]. Considering that the value of the shunt resistance is infinite [30], the analytical
V I.R s
I I L I s ex p 1 (8)
a
These parameters are highly related to the intensity of solar radiation and the
temperature of the solar panel. There are obtained indirectly by measuring the current
and voltage at reference conditions (incident radiation of 1000 W/m2 and a solar cell
temperature of 25°C). Under other conditions, the following correlations are used to
evaluate them:
I L RG R G ,r e f I L ,r e f I ,s c ( T c T c , r e f ) (10)
(11)
3
I s I s,re f T c T c ,re f e x p E g s N s a re f 1 T c ,re f Tc
It is well known that the power delivered by the PV panel is highly conditioned by the
supplied voltage [31] and that there is an optimum point of the couple current-voltage
corresponding to the values (Iopt, Vopt) for which a PV panel delivers a maximum power
[32].
We use the relation (12) below giving the power generated by the solar cell
PIV (12)
together with the relation (8) allowing to deduce the voltage V, then it is easy to
dP dI I I opt
0 (13)
Therefore, the maximum electrical power (Pm) delivered by the PV panel is given by:
10
4.2. Simulation of the uncooled panel
In this section, the numerical modelling of the uncooled PV panel exposed to solar
radiation (RG) under ambient air temperature Tair is developed. We considered the heat
exchange by convection between the two faces of the PV panel and the ambient air
while the radiation heat exchange was occurred just from the front face toward the sky
and the surrounding walls. The hypothesis of a single-layer PV panel [33–35] with
electrical current, while the rest was transferred via long wave radiation (Φ r ) and
distribution on the different solid media of the PV panel, the heat balance at the surface
panel (S) can be written, for the case of an open circuit, as follows:
RG S Φ C Φ r 0 (15)
α= αPVg + αg
Φ C h S T P T a ir (16)
The heat transfer coefficient was correlated by the Nusselt number, for the case of a
horizontal flat plate under conditions of free convection, by the following relationship
[36]:
11
where:
R a G r Pr
while for the forced convection, we used the correlation reported by Sánchez Barroso et
al. [37].
N u 0 .8 6 R e1/ 2 P r1/ 3
(19)
The net radiation of long wave radiations exchanged between the surface of the PV
Φ r g σ S F P V sky (T P 4 T sk y 4 )+ g σ S F P V w a ll (T P 4 T w a ll 4 ) (20)
The temperature of the sky was evaluated by the following relation [41]:
T s k y 0 .0 5 5 2 T a1i .5
r
(21)
However, the site of the experiment, where the panel is settled, was not completely
open; it was surrounded by walls that reduced the solid angle toward the sky. Thus, we
neglected the view factor FPV-sky and we assumed that the radiative exchange of the PV
panel occurred just with the surrounding walls. Moreover, as adopted in previous works
[13, 35, 39], the walls temperature was assumed equal to the ambient temperature in all
Considering the maximum power delivered by the PV panel, the energy efficiency of
the uncooled PV panel, which quantifies the share of solar energy converted into
12
4.2.3. Numerical procedure
The temperature Tp of the panel was obtained by successive iterations. The steps
followed in the algorithm are shown in Figure 7. For the given dimensions of the panel,
the intensity of solar radiation and air temperature, we initialised the temperature of the
solar panel to an arbitrary value TP0 that was greater than the air temperature. Then, we
evaluated the dimensionless Grashof, Reynolds, Prandtl, and Rayleigh numbers, which
allow the calculation of the Nusselt number given by the relations (17–19), and thus, the
convective heat exchange coefficient (h) was obtained. The temperature of the sky was
then calculated by using the relation (21). Considering the relations (15), (16), and (20),
a new value of the panel temperature (TP1) was calculated by the following expression:
TP1 αR G
S - r
/(h S ) T air
(23)
which was then compared to the initial temperature. The procedure was repeated until
the convergence was achieved with a difference less than 0.01, between two successive
values.
The PV panel characteristics are already summarized in Table 2. Furthermore, for our
simulations we consider that the EVA and ARC layers are transparent, while the Tedlar
layer is opaque. Thus, radiative heat balance concerns only glass and silicon layers.
The air blown by the fan causes a turbulent flow that promotes heat exchange with the
PV panel. The temperature distribution and velocity fields were determined by solving
the equations of continuity, momentum, turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate and
13
a- Fluid media
The PV panel exchanges heat between its front face and the external surrounding by
free convection and radiation. However, the heat flux exchanged at the rear of the PV
panel, was determined by solving coupling equations of energy in each solid media and
fluid motion. The complexity of these equations required the use of the CFD code
Fluent. More details regarding the algorithms and methods can be found in the user
This code solves the 3D conservation equations for the physical quantities of
momentum, turbulence, and energy transported in the flow coupled to the energy
P
u k . . S (24)
xk xi xi xi
Each parameter of the relation (24) is explained in detail in Table 5. These governing
equations are discretised in the domain of interest and are transformed into a linear
equations system by using the finite volumes method. The system of linear equations
together with the boundary conditions, are solved using the SIMPLE algorithm:
The temperature fields in the glass and silicon layers were determined by performing
energy balances in solid media (Table 2). Poisson's equation was used as the governing
ΔT λ 0 (25)
14
where is the Laplace operator, and is a source term that corresponds to the net
α g R G ε g σ (T g4 T w4a ll )
, for the glass layer. (26)
eg
P V g RG
, for the silicon layer. (27)
es
The computational domain was meshed with 4692681 cubic and tetrahedral volumes
(Figure 8).
By neglecting the thermal resistance effect of the ARC,we meshed each solid layer
(glass, silicon, EVA, tedlar) of the PV panel into 144670 cubic elements with heights
equal to their respective thicknesses. The cavity through which air flows was meshed
The convective heat transfer coefficient, deduced from the relations (17–19), was
introduced as an user-defined function for the front face of the PV panel, while at the
rear face, near the air-tedlar interface, convective heat flux was determined by solving
However, the air-tedlar interface, on which the box of electrical wires was fixed with a
silicone glue, whose high thermal resistance, was considered as an insulating wall.
The air inlet was materialised by a "mass-flow-inlet" type boundary condition that sets
the temperature and the flow rate of the air blown by the fan. The outlet surfaces, where
the blown air was pulled outside, were assimilated to the "outflow" type boundary
condition for which all normal gradients of pressure, temperature and velocity are
15
neglected. The other boundaries of the domain were considered as insulated walls with
no slip conditions. Moreover, the air was assimilated to an incompressible ideal gas.
The net efficiency η of the cooled PV panel, which considers the part of the energy
where Pfan and Pm are determined by the relations (6) and (14).
Assuming the value of the shunt resistance Rsh as infinity, the model parameters were
determined using the experimental data. The genetic algorithm [46, 47] minimises the
error between the current evaluated using expression (8) and that measured for the same
voltage.
m
exp
ζ (1 / m) 1 0 0 I e x p I(V ) / Ii
i 1
i i
(29)
Where Iiexp is the measured current at the Vi voltage, I(Vi) is the predicted current given
by the one diode electrical model and m is the number of the measurement points.
The identified parameters, listed in Table 6, were obtained under the following
Considering the relations (9–11), the values of the parameters at reference conditions
16
5.2. Model accuracy
Prior to the numerical simulations, measurements of currents, voltages and the front
face temperature involved by the PV panel were carried out during three days. These
measurements where used to validate the CFD code and the electrical model.
Table 8 gives, for three periods of time, the experimental and numerical values
of the front face temperatures of the uncooled PV panel. It can be noticed that there is a
good agreement between the measured and simulated values. Their differences do not
exceeds 6.3%.
By using the one diode electrical model with all parameters determined
previously corresponding to the relation (8), we obtain the characteristic curves of the
uncooled PV panel at different climate conditions. Indeed, Figure 10 indicates that these
curves are in agreement with the experimental curves obtained from measurements.
Most of the measurements were performed at largest values of voltages where current
versus voltage varies significantly. In the case of the cooled PV panel (Figure 11), we
observe similar variations of the current versus voltage and we note the agreement
between the calculated curves using relation (8) and the experimental ones.
In order to find out the effect of the blown air by the fan on the temperature
distribution along the PV panel, temperature simulations were performed for the whole
panel. The computed temperature distribution along the central axis of the PV panel are
compared to the experimental measurements done along this axis. Figs 12–13 show a
good agreement between these two numerical and experimental distributions along the
central axis, especially Figure 14, allowing then to validate the CFD code simulations.
After the validation of these numerical models, we use them to determine next
17
5.3. Model application
5.3.1. The optimum functioning point
In order to determine the optimum functioning point, we compare the efficiency of the
uncooled and cooled PV panel under the same climatic conditions (RG=1000 Wm-2,
While the temperature of the uncooled PV panel was 105.70°C with an efficiency
o
u n c o o le d
4 .6 3 % , the cooled PV panel showed that the mass flow rate of air affects
significantly the temperature field. Indeed, increasing the mass flow rate of air from 1 to
Figure 15.
However, the efficiency given by the relation (28) increases with the mass flow
rate of air up to a maximum value of 6.00% (Figure 15), beyond which it begins to
decrease. In fact, the power consumed by the fan after this point is an important factor.
This maximum efficiency corresponds to an optimum air mass flow rate of 8 g.s-1 and a
η r 1 0 0 η η u n co o led
o
η u n co o led
o
(30)
To grasp the interest of this method of cooling the PV panel to enhance its
performances, we give, in Table 9, the main powers to be known and then deduce by
the cooled PV panel after the power supplied to the fan (Figure 15).
18
5.3.2. Distribution of the blown air velocity and temperature fields
Using the CFD code, we determined the temperature distribution on the solar panel
(Figure 16). We observed that the silicon region, whose high absorptivity value, was the
warmest with high temperatures at the corners, where the air is poorly renewed.
We also noticed that the box of electric wires disturbs the temperature
distribution on the PV panel (Figure 16). Indeed, the silicone glue, with high thermal
resistance, impedes the heat flux dissipation toward the air confined in the box of
electric wires and raises the local temperature of the silicon layer to 68.5°C.
Furthermore, because the box was shifted from the center, the cooling was more
efficient on one side of the box where the PV panel was exposed to the blown air flow,
Moreover, as shown in Figure 17, the air blown by the fan was split into two
opposite directions and cooled the PV panel before leaving the cavity through the two
We demonstrate below that the simple and autonomous way to cool a PV panel
standard size whose characteristics are given in Table 10. The selected fan for such a
commercial PV panel must be of course large enough to blow the ambient air on the
entire bottom surface of the panel. The characteristics as well as the view of the
considered fan are given in Table 11. In our case we have considered a fan having 14
inches size (with a power of 80W and a flow rate of 3230 m3/h).
The associated scheme to this PV panel with the cooling system is similar to that
given in Figure 3. Then using the relation (2), it is easy for the above selected fan of 14
19
inches to determine its characteristics curve, at Tairo=20°C of air temperature, which is
Similarly to the relation (3), the power consumed by the fan of large size for a
* o*
o
P fa n P fa n T a ir / T a ir (32)
The relation (5) allows to determine, together with the obtained relations (31, 32), the
The simulations performed using the PV panel of large size together with the fixed
context, to evaluate the relative efficiency (*r) of the PV panel, we need to know the
parameters of the electrical model associated to this panel. For this purpose, we consider
o r e f 1 ( T P T P , r e f )
(35)
temperature coefficient whose relationship with the temperature is widely cited in the
literature [48].
20
* *
o r e f 1 ( T P T P , r e f )
(36)
Then, the relative efficiency given in (30) allows to determine the associated relative
efficiency r
*
of this polycrystalline PV panel, that is to say:
From this relation, we obtain the evolution of the PV panel efficiency rate with the air
observe on Figure 19 that the optimum functioning point is around 280g.s-1 of air mass
effectively also deduced from the small PV panel by using the method of similarities.
Indeed, for this small PV panel the relative efficiency corresponds to:
In order to ensure, for each cooling set (PV panels of small and large size), a
similar growth of the efficiency between the uncooled and cooled situations, with the
same degree of cooling, the relations (37) and (38) must be equals. Thus, we find:
*
P fan P fan S / S *
* uncooled
o /o
uncooled
R G
*
S o
* uncooled
* cooled
o
* uncooled
/o
cooled
o
unco oled
/o (39)
Moreover, the temperatures of the cooled and the uncooled PV panels are assumed to be
21
*
P fan P fan S / S *
* uncooled
o
uncooled
/ o (41)
efficiencies of the PV panels are given by the relations (35) and (36):
* u n co o led
ηo = 8 .4 6 % an d η o
u n co o led
= 4 .6 3 % (42)
Then using (42) together with (41) and the dimensions of the PV panels, it is possible to
determine the power consumed by the fan for the large size PV panel which corresponds
to:
*
P fa n 2 6 .6 1 P fa n
(43)
The optimum functioning point of the cooled small PV panel was found for 8g/s of air
Pfan=0.0679W. Thus, using the equation (43), for the large size fan we obtain
P*fan=1.807W.
Finally, we easily determine the associated mass flow rate. Indeed, according to the
In conclusion, owing to the results obtained, and presented above, for the
size also held for the commercial PV panel of large size. We observe that for this PV
panel the improvement reaches values as large as r*=27.80% (Figure 19) very close to
the value of r=29,52% (Figure 15) obtained for the small PV panel.
7. Conclusion
The main objective of this investigation is to improve the efficiency of a PV panel
22
and simple system is then proposed to cool the panel. Thus, a fan fixed at the
backside of the panel and activated by the electricity produced by the panel itself
Thus, as main results of the proposed cooling system, the experimental and
Wm-2, no wind and ambient air temperature of 50°C, have shown an efficiency
We also extended the proposed system to cool larger panels, having standard size
simple and autonomous cooling system does constitute a solution to improve the
As a significant interest to point out, this method needs just a fan fixed at the rear
of a PV panel and activated by the electricity delivered by the panel itself. When
the temperature of the PV panel is high enough while functioning, then the fan is
activated to cool the panel by blowing ambient air on the rear face.
Finally, yet important, is the economic interest involved by this simple proposed
system with respect to the energy gained by cooling the panel with such a system,
comparatively to the adding cost caused by the addition of a fan fixed to the rear
Nomenclature
23
ARC anti-reflection coating
a ideality factor .
eg glass thickness, m
eS silicon thickness, m
FPV-sky view factor between the upper face of the PV panel and the sky
FPV-wall view factor between the upper face of the PV panel and the surrounding
walls
Gr Grashof number
IL photo-current, A
Nu Nusselt number
24
Pfan power consumed by the fan for a temperature Tair of ambient air, W
P fa* n power consumed by the fan of large size for a temperature Tair of ambient
air, W
P fao *n power consumed by the fan of large size at 20°C air temperature, W
Pr Prandtl number
R2 coefficient of determination
Ra Rayleigh number
Re Reynolds number
Rs series resistance, Ω
(1000W/m2)
25
Greek Symbol
α mean absorption coefficient of the PV panel
ɛg glass emissivity
* global efficiency of the fan-cooled PV panel system of large size (%)
26
aoir air density at reference conditions of fan, kg/m3
Subscripts
c cell
g glass
m maximum
opt optimum
P panel
s silicon
sc short circuit
t turbulent
Superscripts
o fan reference conditions
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[31] N.A. Kelly, The coupling factor: A new metric for determining and controlling the
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[41] J.I. Montero, A.Muñoz, A.Antón, N.Iglesias.Computational fluid dynamic
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Table captions
Table 1. General characteristics of the examined PV panel.
32
Table 5. Governing equations in the domain calculation [43-45].
Table 8. Measured and simulated upper face temperatures of the uncooled PV panel
(August).
Table 9. Produced powers from uncooled and cooled PV panel and reached
improvement.
Table 11. Characteristics of the fan, at 20°C of ambient air, used to cool a PV panel of
large size
Figure captions
Figure 1. Top view of the monocristalline PV panel(0.29m×0.22m×0.025m) (the upper
Figure 2. Bottom view of the uncooled (a) and the cooled (b) PV panel (the backside of
the PV).
Figure 4. Experimental set for the fan characterization (a) with schematic view of air
Figure 8. Sketch of the mesh of the cooled PV device. The outlet in red - The fan in blue
- The box of electric wires in dark black - The airflow cavity in light black.
33
Figure 9. Experimental (, ) and calculated () values of current-voltage characteristic
curve and power delivered by the PV panel (March 24th 2016 at 1 pm GMT) :
Figure 10. Experimental (, , ) and calculated () characteristic curve current-
voltage of the uncooled solar panel under various climatic conditions prevailing during
Figure 11. Experimental (, ) and calculated () characteristic curve current-voltage
of the cooled solar panel under various climatic conditions prevailing during August
14th 2016.
Figure 12. Experimental (---) and calculated (–) front face temperature of the cooled
solar panel at an air mass flow of 24.30 g.s-1 under RG=980W/m2, Tair=38°C and
Figure 13. Experimental (---) and calculated (–) front upper face temperature of the
cooled solar panel at an air mass flow of 17.59 g.s-1 under RG=900W/m2, Tair=38°C and
Figure 14. Relative gap between experimental and numerical values of the front upper
face temperature along the panel axis for a cooled PV panel at different air flow rate.
Figure 15. Efficiency improvement (r), efficiency () and mean temperature of the PV
vs. mass flow rate of air at RG=1000W/m2 and Tair=50°C in no wind situation.
Figure 16. Temperature field (°C) of the silicon layer cooled at an air mass flow rate of
Figure 17. Velocity field (m.s-1) in different cross sections of the cooled PV panel with
Figure 18. Temperature field (°C) in different cross sections of the cooled PV panel
34
Figure 19. Efficiency improvement (r) and mean temperature of the large size PV
panel vs. air mass flow rate at RG=1000W/m2 and Tair=50°C in no wind situation.
35
Figure 1
36
Figure 2
37
b
Figure 2. Bottom view of the uncooled (a) and the cooled (b) PV panel (the backside
Figure 3
38
Figure 4
39
a
Figure 4. Experimental set for the fan characterization (a) with schematic view of air
40
Figure 5
2,0
1,8
1,6 0
Pfan 1.88 104 Q03
R 2 0.91
1,4
1,2
Pfan0 (W)
1,0
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0,0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
Q0 (dm3.s-1)
41
Figure 6
- PV panel + Ammeter
Rheostat
Voltmeter
42
Figure 7
43
Figure 8
44
Figure 8. Sketch of the mesh of the cooled PV device. The outlet in red - The fan in blue
- The box of electric wires in dark black - The airflow cavity in light black.
45
Figure 9
0,2 1,80
I (A) P (W)
0,18 1,60
0,16
1,40
0,14
1,20
0,12
1,00
0,1
0,80
0,08
0,60
0,06
0,40
0,04
0,02 0,20
0 0,00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
V (V)
curve and power delivered by the PV panel (March 24th 2016 at 1 pm GMT) :
46
Figure 10
0,35
RG=945W.m-2, Tair=31.8 C, TP=61 C, W=1.49m.s-1 : at 12:30 GMT
0,30
0,25
0,20
RG=900W.m-2, Tair=35.1 C, TP=62 C, W=1.49m.s-1 : at 11am GMT
I (A)
0,15
0,10
0,05
RG=350W.m-2, Tair=34.5 C, TP=45 C, W=0.92m.s-1 : at 4.30 GMT
0,00
5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19
V (V)
Figure 10. Experimental (, , ) and calculated () characteristic curve current-
voltage of the uncooled solar panel under various climatic conditions prevailing during
47
Figure 11
0,35
q=23.54g.s -1, RG=950W.m-2, Tair=31.8 C, TP=45 C, W=1.49m.s -1 : at 1 pm GMT
0,30
0,25
0,20
I (A)
0,15
0,05
0,00
5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21
V (V)
48
Figure 11. Experimental (, ) and calculated () characteristic curve current-voltage
of the cooled solar panel under various climatic conditions prevailing during August
14th 2016.
Figure 12
49
57
Numerical values
55
Exp mean values
53
51
49
47
45
43
T ( C)
41
39
37
35
33
31
29
27
25
0,00 0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30
X (m)
Figure 12. Experimental (---) and calculated (–) front upper face temperature of the
cooled solar panel at an air mass flow of 24.30 g.s-1 under RG=980W.m-2, Tair=38°C and
50
Figure 13
57
Numerical values
55
Exp mean values
53
51
49
47
45
43
T ( C)
41
39
37
35
33
31
29
27
25
0,00 0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30
X (m)
Figure 13. Experimental (---) and calculated (–) front upper face temperature of the
cooled solar panel at an air mass flow of 17.59 g.s-1 under RG=900W.m-2, Tair=38°C and
51
Figure 14
50
45
q=17.59 g/s
40
35
q=24.30 g/s
30
25
20
15
(Texp-Tnum)/Texp (%)
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20
-25
-30
-35
-40
-45
-50
0,00 0,05 0,10 0,15 0,20 0,25 0,30
X (m)
Figure 14. Relative gap between experimental and numerical values of the front upper
face temperature along the panel axis for a cooled PV panel at different air flow rate.
52
Figure 15
9,0 30
T/10 ( C) 28 r (%)
& 8,5
26
(%) 24
8,0
22
7,5 20
18
7,0 T/10 16
14
6,5
12
6,0 10
8
5,5
6
4
5,0
2
4,5 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Flow rate (g.s-1)
53
Figure 15. Efficiency improvement (r), efficiency () and mean temperature of the PV
vs. mass flow rate of air at RG=1000W.m-2 and Tair=50°C in no wind situation.
Figure 16
54
Figure 16. Temperature field (°C) of the silicon layer cooled at an air mass flow
55
Figure 17
Figure 17. Velocity field (m.s-1) in different cross sections of the cooled PV
56
Figure 18
Figure 18. Temperature field (°C) in different cross sections of the cooled PV
57
Figure 19
100 30
T ( C) r (%)
95 28
90 26
85 24
80 22
75 20
70 18
65 16
60 14
55 12
50 10
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
220
240
260
280
300
320
340
360
380
400
420
440
58
Figure 19. Efficiency improvement (r) and mean temperature of the large size PV
panel vs. air mass flow rate at RG=1000W.m-2 and Tair=50°C in no wind situation.
59
Table 1. General characteristics of the examined PV panel.
60
Table 2. Thickness and thermal conductivity of each layer [42].
61
Table 3. Measuring instruments range and accuracy
62
Table 4. Optical parameters of the solar panel.
αPV g αg Reference
0.9 0.95 0.05 [37]
0.93 0.90 0.04 [39]
* *
-- 0.75 0.15 [40]
*
. average value for a non normal incidence
63
Table 5. Governing equations in the domain calculation [43-45].
Symbol S
64
Continuity 1 0 0 0
Momentum ui 1 0
ui
x
u j
g i
u 'u '
i j
x j j x i 0 x j
Turbulent kinetic
k 0
t 2
2
t S ε 2 εM
energy k
t
2
Dissipation rate 0
t
C 1 t
S
2
C 2
k k
Energy T 0 0
u i u j 2 u i
u' i u' j t k
3 x i
t
x j x i
2
k
t C , C=0.09, C1=1.44, C2=1.92, k=1.0, =1.3, S 2 S ij S ij ,
k
M t
2
c
65
Table 6. Parameters of the model at experiments conditions
a I0 Rs IL
1.6809 3.6621 10-6 0.4725 0.1262
66
Table 7. Values of parameters under references conditions.
67
Table 8. Measured and simulated upper face temperatures of the uncooled PV panel
(August).
68
Table 9. Produced powers from uncooled and cooled PV panel and reached
improvement.
Uncooled PV panel Cooled PV Power from the PV Rate of the power improvement
power Pmu n c o o l e d panel power panel to the fan, Pmc o o l e d P f a n Pmu n c o o l e d
r
(W) Pmc o o l e d
(W) Pfan (W) Pmu n c o o l e d
69
Table 10. General characteristics of the large PV panel proposed
70
Peak Peak Peak Dept
Lengt
Manufactur power power power *ref Width h
Cell type h
er / Brand voltage current
(W) (V) (A) (%) (mm) (mm
(mm)
)
Poly -
Kyocera 130 17.6 7.39 14 1425 652 58
KC130TM
71
Table 11. Characteristics of the fan, at 20°C of ambient air, used to cool a PV panel of
large size
72
73