A novel passive cooling for photovoltaic module temperature reduction using truncated fins: simulation study

Abstract

This paper aims to evaluate a novel passive thermal regulation technique for a PV module using an extended surface area called "truncated fins". Enhanced solar irradiance intensity on the top surface of the PV module was achieved using a planner reflector with an optimum angle of 60°. The ANSYS, FLUENT software was employed to perform the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to predict the PV module temperature. To actively cool the PV module, a parametric study in terms of number, thickness, and height of fins was investigated. The distance between the fins also taken into consideration. Engineering equation solver (EES) software was also used to calculate the temperature of the bare PV module i.e., without cooling system. Meanwhile, Response Surface Method is used to determine the optimum number, height, and thickness of fins. The novel passive cooling method showed that the PV system temperature significantly dropped from 64.3 °C without cooling to 44.14 °C with cooling using truncated fins, with a temperature difference of approximately 20.16 °C in comparison to the bare PV module. Additionally, the PV electrical efficiency with truncated fins improved by 9.2% under natural convection.