Comparison of Thermal Models for Ground-Mounted South-Facing Photovoltaic Technologies: A Practical Case Study

Henrik Zsiborács, Gábor Pintér, Attila Bai, József Popp, Zoltán Gabnai, Béla Pályi, István Farkas, Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai, Christian Gützer, Heidelinde Trimmel, Sandro Oswald and Philipp Weihs
Additional contact information
Henrik Zsiborács: Department of Economic Methodology, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Gábor Pintér: Department of Economic Methodology, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Attila Bai: Department of Business Economics, Institute of Applied Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
József Popp: Department of Agricultural Economics, Institute of Sectoral Economics and Methodology, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Zoltán Gabnai: Department of Business Economics, Institute of Applied Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Béla Pályi: Department of Agricultural Mechanization, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
István Farkas: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Szent István University, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Nóra Hegedűsné Baranyai: Department of Economic Methodology, Georgikon Faculty, University of Pannonia, 8360 Keszthely, Hungary
Christian Gützer: Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Meteorology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Heidelinde Trimmel: Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Meteorology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Sandro Oswald: Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Meteorology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Philipp Weihs: Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Institute of Meteorology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 5, 1-18

Abstract: This paper examines the thermal properties of free-standing, ground-installed, south-facing crystalline and amorphous silicon photovoltaic modules, the remaining energy and the energy generation of the modules, in ideal and actual summer weather conditions. This work studies the algorithms in other studies used to describe the thermal processes occurring on the surface of photovoltaic modules. Using accurate devices and real, measured data, the deviations and the inaccuracies of theoretical approaches are investigated. The emphasis of the present study is to improve the simulation accuracy of the total emitted long-wave radiation at the module surface and to show the appropriate overall convection coefficient values for ground-mounted south-facing photovoltaic technologies. The innovative aspect of the present paper is an improved model resulting from an improved convective heat transfer and net long-wave radiation calculation. As a result of this research, algorithms describing the energy fluxes were developed. These algorithms have a 1–3% better accuracy of the net long-wave radiation calculations at the module surface. The rate of net energy exchange by convection at the module surface could be improved by 10–12% compared to the previous literature.

Keywords: solar energy; PV model; heat transfer; energy analysis; efficiency (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: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/5/1114/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/5/1114/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:5:p:1114-:d:144136

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().