Thermal management of photovoltaic modules using conical fins

Abstract

The efficiency of photovoltaic modules is generally specified for standard test conditions; but their performance in real field applications are of great importance. Along with the quality of PV material and irradiations, the performance of photovoltaic module strongly depends on its operating temperature. As the module temperature increases, its electrical conversion efficiency decreases. Thus, thermal management of photovoltaic modules has become a crucial factorin field applications of photovoltaics. Several active and passive techniques for the thermal management of photovoltaic modules have been discussed in the literature so far. In the present study, thermal management of photovoltaic modules using natural air current is explored. A specially designed array of conical pin fins has been attached to the photovoltaic module. The experiments have been conducted in the month of April 2018 at Nagpur location (21.14 N, 79.08 E). It has been observed that the modified system reduces the PV module temperature by around 5 . Around 17% increment in the electrical conversion efficiency of PV module has been recorded.