Evaluation of optical and thermal behaviors of a 3FPT photovoltaic module

The optical and thermal behaviors of the photovoltaic module have a great influence on its output power. The 3FPT (Three Flat Plates Terrestrial) module is a newly developed photovoltaic module structure, which overcomes the drawbacks of the existing modules using commercially available materials in Egypt. The 3FPT module consists of three plates; the front cover, cells adhered to the substrate and the back cover. Possibilities of repair and the simple fabrication technique from commercially available materials are the main features of the 3FPT module. Optical and thermal evaluations of the 3FPT module encapsulation system are performed in this work. The optical and thermal behavior of the 3FPT encapsulation system should allow maximum solar intensity to reach the cell surface and should achieve relieving the cell thermal stress with the minimum cell temperature. A computer code is constructed to perform the optical and thermal analysis of the 3FPT encapsulation system. The code is used to evaluate solar energy intensity reaching the cells, temperatures of the different module encapsulation layers, and electric power output from the module. The code is used to study the influence of the 3FPT different module parameter changes on its optical and thermal behavior. The glass cover iron oxide content effects on the optical and thermal module behavior are also investigated.