Performance improvement of photovoltaic modules via temperature homogeneity improvement

M. Muneeshwaran; Uzair Sajjad; Tanveer Ahmed; Mohammed Amer; Hafiz Muhammad Ali; Chi Chuan Wang

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2020.117816

Performance improvement of photovoltaic modules via temperature homogeneity improvement

M. Muneeshwaran, Uzair Sajjad, Tanveer Ahmed, Mohammed Amer, Hafiz Muhammad Ali, Chi Chuan Wang

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

62 Scopus citations

Abstract

Though the PV module performance can be enhanced by cooling, the associated temperature non-uniformity across the PV panel can deteriorate its efficiency. In this study, a significant effort is conducted for an air-cooling system that can control the temperature uniformity across the PV panel. The cooling of a rooftop PV module is enabled by the air-conditioning unit installed on the building's roof. PV panel performance, with and without the cooling, is experimentally investigated for the uniform cold air duct. Experimental results showed that the cooled panel temperature is 6–12 °C lower than that of the uncooled one. However, even with the cooling, the temperature non-uniformity of 4–7 °C was noticed across the PV panel. To improve the temperature uniformity across the module, converging cold air ducts with different area ratios (AR) of 0.667 and 0.333 were designed and analyzed numerically. The effect of inlet air temperature (T_in-air = 18–23 °C) and inlet airflow velocity (U = 2–3 m/s) on panel temperature were also studied. The results suggested that the PV panel with CCD having an AR of 0.333 exhibited a temperature non-uniformity of 1.5–2.5 °C and demonstrated a 17–22% improvement in module efficiency under T_in-air = 18 °C and U = 3 m/s.

Original language	English
Article number	117816
Journal	Energy
Volume	203
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117816
State	Published - Jul 15 2020
Externally published	Yes

Funding

The authors would like to thank for the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan, under contract number 108-2221-E-009-058-MY3. The authors would also like to thank the University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, 47050, Pakistan, for providing the experimental facilities to conduct experimentation. The authors would like to thank for the support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan , under contract number 108-2221-E-009-058-MY3 . The authors would also like to thank the University of Engineering and Technology Taxila, 47050, Pakistan, for providing the experimental facilities to conduct experimentation.

Keywords

Air cooling technique
Converging duct
PV module
Panel temperature
Temperature non-uniformity

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/j.energy.2020.117816

Cite this

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title = "Performance improvement of photovoltaic modules via temperature homogeneity improvement",

abstract = "Though the PV module performance can be enhanced by cooling, the associated temperature non-uniformity across the PV panel can deteriorate its efficiency. In this study, a significant effort is conducted for an air-cooling system that can control the temperature uniformity across the PV panel. The cooling of a rooftop PV module is enabled by the air-conditioning unit installed on the building's roof. PV panel performance, with and without the cooling, is experimentally investigated for the uniform cold air duct. Experimental results showed that the cooled panel temperature is 6–12 °C lower than that of the uncooled one. However, even with the cooling, the temperature non-uniformity of 4–7 °C was noticed across the PV panel. To improve the temperature uniformity across the module, converging cold air ducts with different area ratios (AR) of 0.667 and 0.333 were designed and analyzed numerically. The effect of inlet air temperature (Tin-air = 18–23 °C) and inlet airflow velocity (U = 2–3 m/s) on panel temperature were also studied. The results suggested that the PV panel with CCD having an AR of 0.333 exhibited a temperature non-uniformity of 1.5–2.5 °C and demonstrated a 17–22% improvement in module efficiency under Tin-air = 18 °C and U = 3 m/s.",

keywords = "Air cooling technique, Converging duct, PV module, Panel temperature, Temperature non-uniformity",

author = "M. Muneeshwaran and Uzair Sajjad and Tanveer Ahmed and Mohammed Amer and Ali, {Hafiz Muhammad} and Wang, {Chi Chuan}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 Elsevier Ltd",

year = "2020",

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language = "English",

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T1 - Performance improvement of photovoltaic modules via temperature homogeneity improvement

AU - Muneeshwaran, M.

AU - Sajjad, Uzair

AU - Ahmed, Tanveer

AU - Amer, Mohammed

AU - Ali, Hafiz Muhammad

AU - Wang, Chi Chuan

PY - 2020/7/15

Y1 - 2020/7/15

N2 - Though the PV module performance can be enhanced by cooling, the associated temperature non-uniformity across the PV panel can deteriorate its efficiency. In this study, a significant effort is conducted for an air-cooling system that can control the temperature uniformity across the PV panel. The cooling of a rooftop PV module is enabled by the air-conditioning unit installed on the building's roof. PV panel performance, with and without the cooling, is experimentally investigated for the uniform cold air duct. Experimental results showed that the cooled panel temperature is 6–12 °C lower than that of the uncooled one. However, even with the cooling, the temperature non-uniformity of 4–7 °C was noticed across the PV panel. To improve the temperature uniformity across the module, converging cold air ducts with different area ratios (AR) of 0.667 and 0.333 were designed and analyzed numerically. The effect of inlet air temperature (Tin-air = 18–23 °C) and inlet airflow velocity (U = 2–3 m/s) on panel temperature were also studied. The results suggested that the PV panel with CCD having an AR of 0.333 exhibited a temperature non-uniformity of 1.5–2.5 °C and demonstrated a 17–22% improvement in module efficiency under Tin-air = 18 °C and U = 3 m/s.

AB - Though the PV module performance can be enhanced by cooling, the associated temperature non-uniformity across the PV panel can deteriorate its efficiency. In this study, a significant effort is conducted for an air-cooling system that can control the temperature uniformity across the PV panel. The cooling of a rooftop PV module is enabled by the air-conditioning unit installed on the building's roof. PV panel performance, with and without the cooling, is experimentally investigated for the uniform cold air duct. Experimental results showed that the cooled panel temperature is 6–12 °C lower than that of the uncooled one. However, even with the cooling, the temperature non-uniformity of 4–7 °C was noticed across the PV panel. To improve the temperature uniformity across the module, converging cold air ducts with different area ratios (AR) of 0.667 and 0.333 were designed and analyzed numerically. The effect of inlet air temperature (Tin-air = 18–23 °C) and inlet airflow velocity (U = 2–3 m/s) on panel temperature were also studied. The results suggested that the PV panel with CCD having an AR of 0.333 exhibited a temperature non-uniformity of 1.5–2.5 °C and demonstrated a 17–22% improvement in module efficiency under Tin-air = 18 °C and U = 3 m/s.

KW - Air cooling technique

KW - Converging duct

KW - PV module

KW - Panel temperature

KW - Temperature non-uniformity

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Performance improvement of photovoltaic modules via temperature homogeneity improvement

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

UN SDGs

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