Optimal design and orientation of cooling technology for photovoltaic Plants: A comparative simulation study

Elnaby Kabeel A., Khelifa A., El Hadi Attia M., Abdelgaied M., ARICI M., Abdel-Aziz M. M.

Solar Energy, cilt.269, 2024 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 269
  • Basım Tarihi: 2024
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.solener.2024.112362
  • Dergi Adı: Solar Energy
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, Aerospace Database, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Applied Science & Technology Source, Communication Abstracts, Compendex, Environment Index, Geobase, INSPEC, Metadex, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Cooling methods, Optimized cooling design, Performance improvement, PV module, Temperature, Thermal efficiency
  • Kocaeli Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Continued development in the field of solar photovoltaics requires improvements in cooling technology. Therefore, the present comprehensive simulation study aims to reach the optimal design and orientation of cooling technologies that achieve the highest performance of photovoltaic (PV) panels. To achieve the optimal design and orientation of the cooling channel inlet of air-cooled photovoltaic thermal collectors, seven different designs of cooling techniques distinct for cooling the PV panels from the bottom side were studied, including conventional side cooling (S1), cooling from the bottom through one slot (S2), cooling from the bottom through two slots (S3), cooling from the bottom through three slots (S4), cooling from the side and through one hole (S5), cooling from the side and through two holes (S6), and cooling from the side and through three holes (S7). Outcomes presented that the second scenario S2 is the optimal one, where the air outlet temperature is 315.9 K and the thermal efficiency is 14.6 %. In the second part of the study, the influences of air flowing (with Re varying between 1000 and 5500) on the performance of PV panels for two distinct scenarios (S1 and S2) were studied. According to simulation studies, using situations S1 and S2, the outlet temperatures are 318.26 K and 319.14 K, respectively, with Re = 1072 and Gr = 8.74E5. Also, S2 has a considerable thermal efficiency advantage over S1. The highest thermal efficiency for S1 and S2 is 51 % and 59 %, respectively, for Gr = 8.74E5 and Re = 5432 with an improvement of 15.68 %.