IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v226y2018icp160-180.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Enhancement of the cooling capability of a high concentration photovoltaic system using microchannels with forward triangular ribs on sidewalls

Author

Listed:
  • Di Capua H, Mario
  • Escobar, Rodrigo
  • Diaz, A.J.
  • Guzmán, Amador M.

Abstract

Numerical simulations were performed to investigate a microchannel heat sink device as cooling option for a high concentration photovoltaic system. COMSOL Multiphysics 5.1 software is used to solve three-dimensional equations which consider conjugate heat transfer, viscous dissipations, and temperature-dependent-properties. This study investigates the integration of microchannels with complex geometric features on its inner walls into the solar cell structure, to enhance the heat transfer performance of a microchannel heat sink-based active cooling system. Inner sidewall mounted forward triangular ribs are considered in aligned and offset distributions along the microchannel walls. In addition, numerical analysis is developed for a conventional flat plate heat sink integrated to a high concentration photovoltaic system to stablish a baseline solar cell temperature. The numerical results show that a micro-channel heat sink device can control and keep in very low range the solar cell temperature (<301 K). Compared to a smooth microchannel, forward triangular ribs installed on the sidewalls enhance the heat transfer capability. Microchannels with aligned and offset rib distributions increase the Nusselt number between 1.8 and 1.6 times, respectively, and increase the average friction factors between 3.9 and 2.3 times, respectively. The microchannel heat sink device with forward triangular ribs is more efficient and effective at Re ≤ 200, since the pumping power reaches a high percentage of the total power generated by solar cell when Re > 200. At Re = 400, the pumping power reaches 41% and 23% of the total power generated by a multi-junction solar cell in the aligned and offset rib distribution, respectively. The pumping power is greatly reduced while using smooth microchannel, because the maximum pumping power is only 9.5% of the solar cell power at Re = 400, however, the resulting solar cell temperature is slightly higher compared to microchannels with aligned and offset rib configurations. A microchannel heat sink provides a more effective cooling solution compared to a passive flat plate heat sink for a high concentration photovoltaic system. In addition, the possibility of direct integration of a microchannel heat sink into a solar cell structure as proposed in this study, represents an interesting option to feasibly increase thermal performance to a considerable level by maintaining the solar cell temperature in a very low range.

Suggested Citation

  • Di Capua H, Mario & Escobar, Rodrigo & Diaz, A.J. & Guzmán, Amador M., 2018. "Enhancement of the cooling capability of a high concentration photovoltaic system using microchannels with forward triangular ribs on sidewalls," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 160-180.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:226:y:2018:i:c:p:160-180
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.05.052
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918307621
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.05.052?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Han, Xue & Zhao, Guankun & Xu, Chao & Ju, Xing & Du, Xiaoze & Yang, Yongping, 2017. "Parametric analysis of a hybrid solar concentrating photovoltaic/concentrating solar power (CPV/CSP) system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 520-533.
    2. Han, Xinyue & Wang, Yiping & Zhu, Li, 2011. "Electrical and thermal performance of silicon concentrator solar cells immersed in dielectric liquids," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4481-4489.
    3. Sun, Yong & Wang, Yiping & Zhu, Li & Yin, Baoquan & Xiang, Haijun & Huang, Qunwu, 2014. "Direct liquid-immersion cooling of concentrator silicon solar cells in a linear concentrating photovoltaic receiver," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 264-271.
    4. Jakhar, Sanjeev & Soni, M.S. & Gakkhar, Nikhil, 2016. "Historical and recent development of concentrating photovoltaic cooling technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 41-59.
    5. Rezania, A. & Rosendahl, L.A., 2017. "Feasibility and parametric evaluation of hybrid concentrated photovoltaic-thermoelectric system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 380-389.
    6. Radwan, Ali & Ahmed, Mahmoud, 2017. "The influence of microchannel heat sink configurations on the performance of low concentrator photovoltaic systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 594-611.
    7. Xie, W.T. & Dai, Y.J. & Wang, R.Z. & Sumathy, K., 2011. "Concentrated solar energy applications using Fresnel lenses: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 2588-2606, August.
    8. Micheli, Leonardo & Sarmah, Nabin & Luo, Xichun & Reddy, K.S. & Mallick, Tapas K, 2013. "Opportunities and challenges in micro- and nano-technologies for concentrating photovoltaic cooling: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 595-610.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abou-Ziyan, Hosny & Ibrahim, Mohammed & Abdel-Hameed, Hala, 2020. "Performance modeling and analysis of high-concentration multi-junction photovoltaics using advanced hybrid cooling systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    2. Huang, Pingnan & Pan, Minqiang, 2021. "Secondary heat transfer enhancement design of variable cross-section microchannels based on entransy analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Siddiqui, M.U. & Siddiqui, Osman K. & Al-Sarkhi, A. & Arif, A.F.M. & Zubair, Syed M., 2019. "A novel heat exchanger design procedure for photovoltaic panel cooling application: An analytical and experimental evaluation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 41-56.
    4. Wang, Yunjie & Yang, Huihan & Chen, Haifei & Yu, Bendong & Zhang, Haohua & Zou, Rui & Ren, Shaoyang, 2023. "A review: The development of crucial solar systems and corresponding cooling technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    5. Islam, Kazi & Riggs, Brian & Ji, Yaping & Robertson, John & Spitler, Christopher & Romanin, Vince & Codd, Daniel & Escarra, Matthew D., 2019. "Transmissive microfluidic active cooling for concentrator photovoltaics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 906-915.
    6. Radwan, Ali & Ookawara, Shinichi & Ahmed, Mahmoud, 2019. "Thermal management of concentrator photovoltaic systems using two-phase flow boiling in double-layer microchannel heat sinks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C), pages 404-419.
    7. Karolina Papis-Frączek & Krzysztof Sornek, 2022. "A Review on Heat Extraction Devices for CPVT Systems with Active Liquid Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-49, August.
    8. Cameron, William James & Reddy, K. Srinivas & Mallick, Tapas Kumar, 2022. "Review of high concentration photovoltaic thermal hybrid systems for highly efficient energy cogeneration," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    9. Abo-Zahhad, Essam M. & Ookawara, Shinichi & Radwan, Ali & El-Shazly, A.H. & Elkady, M.F., 2019. "Numerical analyses of hybrid jet impingement/microchannel cooling device for thermal management of high concentrator triple-junction solar cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Peng, Hao & Du, Yanlian & Hu, Fenfen & Tian, Zhen & Shen, Yijun, 2023. "Thermal management of high concentrator photovoltaic system using a novel double-layer tree-shaped fractal microchannel heat sink," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 77-93.
    11. Xia, Yang & Chen, Li & Luo, Jiwang & Tao, Wenquan, 2023. "Numerical investigation of microchannel heat sinks with different inlets and outlets based on topology optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(PA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hasan, Ahmed & Sarwar, Jawad & Shah, Ali Hasan, 2018. "Concentrated photovoltaic: A review of thermal aspects, challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 835-852.
    2. Sharaf, Omar Z. & Orhan, Mehmet F., 2015. "Concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) solar collector systems: Part I – Fundamentals, design considerations and current technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1500-1565.
    3. Bahaidarah, Haitham M.S. & Baloch, Ahmer A.B. & Gandhidasan, Palanichamy, 2016. "Uniform cooling of photovoltaic panels: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1520-1544.
    4. Fernández, Eduardo F. & Talavera, D.L. & Almonacid, Florencia M. & Smestad, Greg P., 2016. "Investigating the impact of weather variables on the energy yield and cost of energy of grid-connected solar concentrator systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 790-801.
    5. Islam, Kazi & Riggs, Brian & Ji, Yaping & Robertson, John & Spitler, Christopher & Romanin, Vince & Codd, Daniel & Escarra, Matthew D., 2019. "Transmissive microfluidic active cooling for concentrator photovoltaics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 906-915.
    6. Ju, Xing & Pan, Xinyu & Zhang, Zheyang & Xu, Chao & Wei, Gaosheng, 2019. "Thermal and electrical performance of the dense-array concentrating photovoltaic (DA-CPV) system under non-uniform illumination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 904-915.
    7. Gilmore, Nicholas & Timchenko, Victoria & Menictas, Chris, 2018. "Microchannel cooling of concentrator photovoltaics: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1041-1059.
    8. Idris Al Siyabi & Arwa Al Mayasi & Aiman Al Shukaili & Sourav Khanna, 2021. "Effect of Soiling on Solar Photovoltaic Performance under Desert Climatic Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, January.
    9. Khalifa Aliyu Ibrahim & Patrick Luk & Zhenhua Luo, 2023. "Cooling of Concentrated Photovoltaic Cells—A Review and the Perspective of Pulsating Flow Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-23, March.
    10. Alzahrani, Mussad & Shanks, Katie & Mallick, Tapas K., 2021. "Advances and limitations of increasing solar irradiance for concentrating photovoltaics thermal system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    11. Adnan Aslam & Naseer Ahmed & Safian Ahmed Qureshi & Mohsen Assadi & Naveed Ahmed, 2022. "Advances in Solar PV Systems; A Comprehensive Review of PV Performance, Influencing Factors, and Mitigation Techniques," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(20), pages 1-52, October.
    12. Ji, Yishuang & Lv, Song & Qian, Zuoqin & Ji, Yitong & Ren, Juwen & Liang, Kaiming & Wang, Shulong, 2022. "Comparative study on cooling method for concentrating photovoltaic system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    13. Salari, Ali & Parcheforosh, Ali & Hakkaki-Fard, Ali & Amadeh, Ali, 2020. "A numerical study on a photovoltaic thermal system integrated with a thermoelectric generator module," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 1261-1271.
    14. Sharaf, Omar Z. & Orhan, Mehmet F., 2015. "Concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) solar collector systems: Part II – Implemented systems, performance assessment, and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1566-1633.
    15. Daneshazarian, Reza & Cuce, Erdem & Cuce, Pinar Mert & Sher, Farooq, 2018. "Concentrating photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) collectors and systems: Theory, performance assessment and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 473-492.
    16. Abo-Zahhad, Essam M. & Ookawara, Shinichi & Radwan, Ali & El-Shazly, A.H. & Elkady, M.F., 2019. "Numerical analyses of hybrid jet impingement/microchannel cooling device for thermal management of high concentrator triple-junction solar cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Siecker, J. & Kusakana, K. & Numbi, B.P., 2017. "A review of solar photovoltaic systems cooling technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 192-203.
    18. Jakhar, Sanjeev & Soni, M.S. & Gakkhar, Nikhil, 2016. "Historical and recent development of concentrating photovoltaic cooling technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 41-59.
    19. Sripadmanabhan Indira, Sridhar & Aravind Vaithilingam, Chockalingam & Narasingamurthi, Kulasekharan & Sivasubramanian, Ramsundar & Chong, Kok-Keong & Saidur, R., 2022. "Mathematical modelling, performance evaluation and exergy analysis of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal-solar thermoelectric system integrated with compound parabolic concentrator and parabolic trough con," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    20. Chemisana, D. & Fernandez, E.F. & Riverola, A. & Moreno, A., 2018. "Fluid-based spectrally selective filters for direct immersed PVT solar systems in building applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 263-272.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:226:y:2018:i:c:p:160-180. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.