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Experimental Study on Increasing the Electrical Efficiency of Photovoltaic Panel with Decreasing Rear Surface Temperature

Hassanzadeh Naeini, Ali | 2015

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: English
  3. Document No: 47710 (58)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology, International Campus, Kish Island
  5. Department: Science and Engineering
  6. Advisor(s): Moosavi, Ali; Shafiee, Afshin
  7. Abstract:
  8. Hybrid photovoltaic thermal system (PV/T) is a pioneer mechanical and electrical system which can produce both thermal and electrical energy for domestic or industrial purposes. As the solar cell’s material is semiconductor, the electrical output of them reversely modifies with the reduction of solar cell’s operating temperature. One of the most operational and cost-effective methods that has been investigated is active cooling. The photovoltaic panel cools down with a channel under the PV’s rear surface and a fan in the channel outlet. The producing heat can warm up cold water of a house or a factory. In addition to active cooling, it is smart to utilize passive cooling such as artificial roughness. Artificial roughness is one of the impressive ways to boost the PV/T electrical efficiency and thermal performance. The unique geometry of sinus roughness causes heat transfer enhancement and low pressure lost simultaneously. In this study, the influence of PV tilt and channel height on both electrical efficiency and thermal performance with active cooling (constant Reynolds number (Re=3150) in the channel outlet), and without cooling mechanism are investigated. Therefore, the cooling mechanism includes four different parameters which were observed in the experiment: PV tilt angle, channel height, roughness height and active cooling. The purpose of this project is to detect the best state in the combination of these four elements in which electrical efficiency and thermal performance are maximum. The comparison of experimental results and numerical outputs represent good agreement with each other. The results obtained from the tested solar panel, could only achieve about 16.5% electrical efficiency in the basic condition, however, the best combination of parameters causes the electrical efficiency elevates up to 22%.It means about 30watt enhancement. Also for the thermal performance, it showed that usage of roughness increases heat transfer dramatically with low pressure lost. The thermal performance index becomes more than 7
  9. Keywords:
  10. Photovoltaic-Thermal System ; Experimental Studies ; Solar Panel ; Efficiency Maximization ; Cooling Channel

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