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.
CITATION STYLE
D’Angola, A., Enescu, D., Mecca, M., Ciocia, A., Di Leo, P., Fracastoro, G. V., & Spertino, F. (2020). Theoretical and numerical study of a photovoltaic system with active fluid cooling by a fully-coupled 3D thermal and electric model. Energies, 13(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040852
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