Theoretical and Numerical Study of a Photovoltaic System with Active Fluid Cooling by a Fully-Coupled 3D Thermal and Electric Model

Antonio D’Angola, Diana Enescu, Marianna Mecca, Alessandro Ciocia, Paolo Di Leo, Giovanni Vincenzo Fracastoro and Filippo Spertino
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Antonio D’Angola: Scuola di Ingegneria SI-UniBas, Università della Basilicata, via dell’Ateneo Lucano, 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Diana Enescu: Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Energy, Valahia University of Targoviste, 130004 Dambovita, Romania
Marianna Mecca: Scuola di Ingegneria SI-UniBas, Università della Basilicata, via dell’Ateneo Lucano, 10, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Alessandro Ciocia: Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Paolo Di Leo: Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Giovanni Vincenzo Fracastoro: Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy
Filippo Spertino: Energy Department, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: The paper deals with the three-dimensional theoretical and numerical investigation of the electrical performance of a Photovoltaic System (PV) with active fluid cooling (PVFC) in order to increase its efficiency in converting solar radiation into electricity. The paper represents a refinement of a previous study by the authors in which a one-dimensional theoretical model was presented to evaluate the best compromise, in terms of fluid flow rate, of net power gain in a cooled PV system. The PV system includes 20 modules cooled by a fluid circulating on the bottom, the piping network, and the circulating pump. The fully coupled thermal and electrical model was developed in a three-dimensional geometry and the results were discussed with respect to the one-dimensional approximation and to experimental tests. Numerical simulations show that a competitive mechanism between the power gain due to the cell temperature reduction and the power consumption of the pump exists, and that a best compromise, in terms of fluid flow rate, can be found. The optimum flow rate can be automatically calculated by using a semi-analytical approach in which irradiance and ambient temperature of the site are known and the piping network losses are fully characterized.

Keywords: photovoltaic modules; thermal–electrical model; computational fluid dynamics (CFD); solar energy; active cooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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