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Analysis of novel passive cooling strategies for free-standing silicon photovoltaic panels

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Abstract

Silicon-based photovoltaic (PV) panels are sensitive to operating temperatures, especially during exposure to high solar irradiation levels. The sensitivity of PV panels is reflected through the reductions in photovoltaic energy conversion efficiency (electrical efficiency) and in PV panel lifetime due to thermal fatigue. In this study, different and novel passive cooling strategies were proposed and numerically investigated for the case of 50-W market-available free-standing silicon PV panels. The focus of the research was to examine the effect of the proposed modifications on the temperatures of the specific PV panel layers as well as on the velocity contours. The used numerical model was upgraded based on a previously developed numerical model that was validated through an experimental manner. Three different passive cooling scenarios were numerically investigated, and the most promising one was the case where the PV panel was provided with slits through the front PV panel surface resulting in a reduction of about 4 °C for the PV panel operating temperature. The other examined cases proved to be less effective with the detected temperature reduction being less than 1.0 °C. The consideration of novel PV panel frame materials was found to be a viable possibility. It was also found that all the proposed modifications can generally lead to the performance improvement in the PV panels and reduce the materials spent on the production of commercial PV panels.

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Abbreviations

E :

Specific total internal energy

f i :

Specific body force

h :

Enthalpy

k’ :

Turbulence kinetic energy

k :

Thermal conductivity

k t :

Thermal conductivity due to turbulence

k eff :

Effective thermal conductivity

p :

Mean flow pressure

Q:

Equivalent PV cell heat source

R ij :

Reynolds stress tensor

S h :

Volumetric heat source

T :

Time

T :

Temperature

\(\bar{u}_{\rm i}\) :

Mean flow velocity in the ith Cartesian direction

V :

Wind velocity

x i :

Cartesian coordinate

μ:

Molecular viscosity

μt :

Turbulent viscosity

ρ :

Mean flow density

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Croatian science foundation (Research project: Smart and hybrid cooling techniques for siliceous photovoltaic panels-IP-01-2018-2814).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LTEF- Laboratory for Thermodynamics and Energy Efficiency, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Rudjera Boskovica 32, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Sandro Nižetić & Filip Grubišić-Čabo

  2. Laboratory of Numerical Modeling and Computer Application, Faculty of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Rudjera Boskovica 32, 21000, Split, Croatia

    Ivo Marinić-Kragić

  3. Process Equipment Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR-54124, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Agis M Papadopoulos

  4. School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, **’an, 710072, China

    Gongnan **e

Authors
  1. Sandro Nižetić
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  2. Ivo Marinić-Kragić
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  3. Filip Grubišić-Čabo
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  4. Agis M Papadopoulos
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  5. Gongnan **e
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Correspondence to Sandro Nižetić.

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Nižetić, S., Marinić-Kragić, I., Grubišić-Čabo, F. et al. Analysis of novel passive cooling strategies for free-standing silicon photovoltaic panels. J Therm Anal Calorim 141, 163–175 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09410-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09410-7

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