Passive Thermal Management of Photovoltaic Modules—Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Photovoltaic Modules

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelhakim Hassabou ◽  
Ahmed Abotaleb ◽  
Amir Abdallah

Operation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems under high temperatures and high humidity represents one of the major challenges to guarantee higher system’s performance and reliability. The PV conversion efficiency degrades considerably at higher temperatures, while dust accumulation on PV module together with atmospheric water vapor condensation may cause a thick layer of mud that is difficult to be removed. Therefore, thermal management in hot climates is crucial for reliable application of PV systems to prevent the efficiency to drop due to temperature rise. This research focuses on the utilization of phase-change materials (PCM) for passive thermal management of solar systems. The main focus is to explore the effect of utilization of PCM-based cooling elements on the thermal behavior of solar PV modules. This paper presents the mathematical modeling and validation of PV modules. Both simulation and experimental data showed that the significant increase in PV peak temperature in summer affects the module’s efficiency, and consequently produced power, by 3% compared to standard testing condition (STC) as an average over the entire day, while it goes up to 8% and 10% during peak noon hours in winter and summer, respectively.

2021 ◽  
Vol 323 ◽  
pp. 00001
Author(s):  
Mehmet Ali Yildirim ◽  
Artur Cebula

This paper presents a review of recent photovoltaic cooling technologies and techniques used to reduce the negative impact of increased temperature to enhance the production of electricity by photovoltaic (PV) modules. Various cooling methods are reviewed; namely, Thermoelectric cooling, PV cooling with phase change materials (PCM) and nanofluids, PV systems cooled by forced water circulation, water immersion cooling technique, PV systems cooled by heat sinks, and solar PV systems cooled by water spraying. Several research papers are reviewed, and their focus is explained to provide an understanding of each cooling method to decrease the surface temperature of PV modules. In the conclusion section, the advantages and disadvantages of the above-mentioned cooling methods are expressed. This work can be used by engineers working on the design and theory of cooled photovoltaic systems.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2308
Author(s):  
Kamran Ali Khan Niazi ◽  
Yongheng Yang ◽  
Tamas Kerekes ◽  
Dezso Sera

Partial shading affects the energy harvested from photovoltaic (PV) modules, leading to a mismatch in PV systems and causing energy losses. For this purpose, differential power processing (DPP) converters are the emerging power electronic-based topologies used to address the mismatch issues. Normally, PV modules are connected in series and DPP converters are used to extract the power from these PV modules by only processing the fraction of power called mismatched power. In this work, a switched-capacitor-inductor (SCL)-based DPP converter is presented, which mitigates the non-ideal conditions in solar PV systems. A proposed SCL-based DPP technique utilizes a simple control strategy to extract the maximum power from the partially shaded PV modules by only processing a fraction of the power. Furthermore, an operational principle and loss analysis for the proposed converter is presented. The proposed topology is examined and compared with the traditional bypass diode technique through simulations and experimental tests. The efficiency of the proposed DPP is validated by the experiment and simulation. The results demonstrate the performance in terms of higher energy yield without bypassing the low-producing PV module by using a simple control. The results indicate that achieved efficiency is higher than 98% under severe mismatch (higher than 50%).


2020 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 282-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Hassan ◽  
Abdul Wahab ◽  
Muhammad Arslan Qasim ◽  
Muhammad Mansoor Janjua ◽  
Muhammad Aon Ali ◽  
...  

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1867
Author(s):  
Mohamed Abdel-Basset ◽  
Reda Mohamed ◽  
Ripon K. Chakrabortty ◽  
Michael J. Ryan ◽  
Attia El-Fergany

The optimization of photovoltaic (PV) systems relies on the development of an accurate model of the parameter values for the solar/PV generating units. This work proposes a modified artificial jellyfish search optimizer (MJSO) with a novel premature convergence strategy (PCS) to define effectively the unknown parameters of PV systems. The PCS works on preserving the diversity among the members of the population while accelerating the convergence toward the best solution based on two motions: (i) moving the current solution between two particles selected randomly from the population, and (ii) searching for better solutions between the best-so-far one and a random one from the population. To confirm its efficacy, the proposed method is validated on three different PV technologies and is being compared with some of the latest competitive computational frameworks. The numerical simulations and results confirm the dominance of the proposed algorithm in terms of the accuracy of the final results and convergence rate. In addition, to assess the performance of the proposed approach under different operation conditions for the solar cells, two additional PV modules (multi-crystalline and thin-film) are investigated, and the demonstrated scenarios highlight the utility of the proposed MJSO-based methodology.


Energies ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chayut Tubniyom ◽  
Rongrit Chatthaworn ◽  
Amnart Suksri ◽  
Tanakorn Wongwuttanasatian

Configurations of photovoltaic (PV) modules, such as series-parallel (SP), bridge-linked (BL), and total cross-tied (TCT) configurations, always utilize a number of connecting switches. In a simulation, the ideal switch with no loss is used to optimize the reconfiguration method for a solar PV array. However, in practice, the switches are non-ideal, causing losses and resulting in a decrease in the total output power of the PV array. In this work, MATLAB/Simulink (R2016a) was employed to simulate nine PV modules linked in a 3 × 3 array, and they were reconfigured using series-parallel (SP), bridge-linked (BL), and total cross-tied (TCT) configurations for both ideal and non-ideal switch cases. It was not surprising that non-ideal switches deteriorated the output power compared with ideal cases. Then, the minimization of losses (ML) configuration was proposed by minimizing the number of switches to give the highest output power. A 5% higher power output was set as the criterion to reconfigure the PV modules when partial shading occurred. The results showed that if 50% or more of the area was partially shaded, reconfiguration was unnecessary. On the other hand, when the shaded area was less than 50%, reconfiguration gave a significant increase in power. Finally, the ML method had different configurations for various shading patterns, and provided better results than those of the TCT method.


The Solar PV modules are usually engaged in dusty environments which are the condition in many tropical countries like India. The dirt gets hoarded on the superficial of the PV module and chunks the photons from the sun. It decreases the generation ability of the PV module. The power output decreases the efficiency, if the PV module is not cleaned for a long time. In order to habitually clean the dust, an automatic cleaning system has been proposed, which senses the light energy from the sun on the solar panel and also cleans the PV module automatically. This system is realized with PIC16F877A microcontroller which controls the geared servo motor. This system consists of a sensor (LDR) to make it dusk to dawn. While for cleaning the PV modules, a mechanism consists of a sliding wipers has been developed. In earlier machinery, cleaning of PV panels was done manually. But here the PV panels has been cleaned by automatic system i.e. wiping mechanism with water flow for effective cleaning


Author(s):  
Ali Saleh Aziz ◽  
Mohammad Faridun Naim Tajuddin ◽  
Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban ◽  
Lucian Mihet-Popa ◽  
Mohd Rafi Adzman ◽  
...  

The There are many factors influencing the performance of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Among these factors, temperature and solar radiation are two major parameters that have a large effect on the efficiency of PV systems. The cell temperature of PV panels is related to the ambient temperature while the solar radiation incident on the surface of the PV modules depends on the slope and azimuth of these modules. Furthermore, ground reflectance (albedo) affects the irradiance incident on the PV panel surface, which in turn affects the output of a PV system. Nevertheless, the effects of these factors on the economic performance of the solar PV systems are scarcely reported. This paper presents a complete design of a stand-alone PV/battery system to supply electric power for a mobile base station in Choman, Erbil, Iraq. The effects of different factors on the total electricity produced by PV arrays and its economic performance are simultaneously investigated. HOMER software has been used as a tool for the techno-economic and environmental analysis. As indicated from the simulation results, the PV array capacity and its economic performance are highly affected by the variation of the slope and azimuth. With a base case (albedo of 20% and average annual ambient temperature of 11°C), the best feasible system which is achieved by facing PV due to south with a tilt angle of 40° or 45°, is found to have net present cost (NPC) of 70595 $ and cost of energy (COE) of 0.54 $/kWh. Moreover, the results indicate that increasing the ground reflectance from 10% to 90% results in a 7.2% decrease in the PV array capacity and about 3% decrease in the NPC and COE. On the other hand, increasing the ambient temperature from 0°C to 40°C results in a 19.7% increase in the PV array capacity and an 8.2% increase in the NPC and COE. Furthermore, according to the ambient temperature of Choman, using PV modules with high sensitivity to temperature is found to be an attractive option. Provided simulation performance analysis proves that the studied parameters must be treated well to establish an enabling environment for solar energy development in Iraq.


Buildings ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Waclaw Celadyn ◽  
Pawel Filipek

The application of photovoltaic systems is becoming a dominant feature in contemporary buildings. They allow for the achievement of zero-energy constructions. However, the principles of this strategy are not yet sufficiently known among architects. The purpose of this study is to enhance their expertise, which cannot be widened due to the shortage of targeted publications. The issue presentation was structured in a way that follows the typical design stages, beginning with large-scale urban problems up to the scale of building forms and components. Different types of photovoltaic (PV) systems are considered, based on their efficiency, relations with building fabrics, potential for thermally protecting buildings and their impact on esthetic values. The focus was mainly on the most popular PV modules. The application of these systems requires in-depth analyses which should be carried out by designers at the initial stage and through the next stages of the design. A method to analyze zoning plan regulations and site planning in view of PV modules’ efficiency is novel. This paper also contains considerations with regard to some other untypical applications of these systems. There is need for changing attitudes in architects and investors regarding the issue of promoting the systems through further elucidations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 572-576
Author(s):  
E. Anoliefo ◽  
O.U. Oparaku ◽  
S. Egoigwe ◽  
S. Olisa

Despite the acclaimed long-term benefits of solar PV systems, most stand-alone solar projects in Nigeria seem to fail within a short duration. In this work, an analysis is carried out to examine the factors that lead to such poor performance of solar projects in Nigeria. A case study of standalone solar street lights (SASSL) in Nsukka geographical region in Nigeria was explored. The field work was carried out from Dec 2016 - January 2018. Data from field indicate that in most cases, premature battery failure due to undercharging was responsible for the collapse of these stand-alone solar systems. Given that the PV module is the sole charge generator in SASSL, the energy yield of the PV modules used in the SASSLs were further investigated. Controlled experiments were carried out to determine the impact of specific environmental and installations conditions on the yield of the PV modules. The results of the experiments led to the development of a model. The weather and installation specific data were then inserted into the model and were used to determine the likely reasons for the premature failure of SASSLs. The results indicated that the within the period under review, the PV modules were capable of providing adequate energy to the battery for only 25% of the time. For another 25% of the time the energy provided were marginal while for 50% of the time the energy provided were grossly inadequate. Keywords: Failure, Battery, Dust, Solar, mechanism, Street light, Irradiance, PV Module.


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