Thermal management techniques for concentrating photovoltaic modules

Abstract

Concentrating photovoltaic technology is one of the most promising solar energy utilization technologies which can directly transform sunlight into electricity with high conversion efficiency up to 46%. Nevertheless, the concentrator brings a large amount of heat to the solar cell and temperature of the solar cell significantly affects its performance by reducing the efficiency and lifespan. Therefore, it is necessary to use proper cooling technology to dissipate the excess heat and maintain the solar cell temperature in an acceptable range. This work presents an overview of various cooling technologies available for concentrating photovoltaic systems in terms of passive and active methods. In passive cooling, natural convection heat sink cooling, heat pipe cooling, and phase change material cooling have been summarized. Inactive cooling, jet impingement cooling, liquid immersion cooling, and microchannel heat sink cooling have been evaluated. At last, discussions of these cooling techniques were reviewed.