Mini-Channel Cooling of a Photovoltaic Cell

Year 2018, Volume: 2 Issue: 2, 34 - 38, 05.12.2018

Onur Erkan , Musa Özkan , Oğuz Arslan

Abstract

In this article, cooling of a mono-crystalline
photovoltaic cell (PV) having 0,00128 m² top surface area was
studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method. The PV cell was
exposed to different solar radiation values in both no-cooling and cooling
conditions. Mini-channel cooling was performed by means of 12 aluminum
rectangular channels having 0,0018 m hydraulic diameter and 40 mm length. Water
flow rate in channels was calculated corresponding to the Reynolds numbers
ranging from 500 to 2300 and its effect on the cooling was examined. Results
show that the temperature of the top surface of PV panel increases up to 57 ˚C
under no-cooling condition and our analysis revealed that it can be decreased
to 25 ˚C when the mini-channel cooling is in progress.

Keywords

photovoltaic cell, solar energy, mini-channel flow, cooling, renewable energy

Mini Kanal İle Fotovoltaik Hücre Soğutma

Abstract

Bu makalede, üst yüzey alanı 0,00128 m² olan
bir mono kristalin fotovoltaik (photovoltaic - PV) hücresinin soğutulması
Hesaplamalı Akışkanlar Dinamiği (HAD) yöntemiyle araştırılmıştır. PV hücresi
hem soğutmasız hem de soğutmalı durumlarda farklı güneş ışınımı değerleri için
analiz edilmiştir. Soğutma sisteminin, 0,0018 m hidrolik çapa sahip, 40 mm
uzunluğunda 12 adet alüminyum dikdörtgen mini kanallardan oluştuğu ve soğutucu
akışkan olarak su kullanıldığı dikkate alınmıştır. Suyun kütlesel debisi 500 ≤
Re ≤ 2300 aralığında hesaplanmıştır ve debinin soğutma üzerindeki etkisi
incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın sonuçlarına göre soğutmasız analizlerde 57 ˚C’ye
kadar ısınan PV hücresi yüzey sıcaklığı, mini-kanal soğutma yöntemi
kullanılarak 25 ˚C’ye kadar soğutulmuştur.

Keywords

fotovoltaik hücre, güneş enerjisi, mini kanal akışı, soğutma, yenilenebilir enerji

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