Investigation on the operation performance of solar panels cooled by a natural draft cooling system

Abstract

This paper is to investigate the feasibility of a natural draft cooling system for PV panel cooling in a typical hot and dry region (Hami, Xinjiang, China). A 3-D model of PV panels cooled by a natural draft cooling system is established using Fluent 2020R2 software, and the cooling effect of the natural draft cooling system on PV panels is simulated and analyzed based on the meteorological data of Hami, China. Simulation finds that the natural draft cooling system can reduce the average temperature of the PV panels. The minimum temperature drops of the PV panels in January (represents winter season), April (represents spring season), July (represents summer season) and October (represents autumn season) of the year 2020 are 1.7 °C, 3.1 °C, 6.1 °C and 2.5 °C, respectively; while the maximum temperature drops of the PV panels are 7.0 °C, 11.2 °C, 15.5 °C and 6.3 °C, respectively. Besides, the natural draft cooling system is also compared with the PV panels without cooling system in six typical days, and finds that the PV panel with a natural draft cooling system increases the photoelectric conversion efficiency by up to 1.41 % (i.e., from 13.71 % to 15.12 %) when compared with the PV panel without cooling. Therefore, the proposed natural draft cooling system can effectively reduce the temperature of PV panels in Hami, Xinjiang.