Experimental and Simulation Study Investigating the Effect of a Transparent Pyramidal Cover on PV Cell Performance

Adel Alblawi,M Talaat

doi:10.3390/su14052599

Adel Alblawi, M Talaat

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052599

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Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are a very popular energy conversion system for electric energy supply due to their ease of connection and fast rate of conversion. However, a disadvantage of these systems is their low efficiency. Many techniques have been proposed to enhance the efficiency of PV systems. In this article, numerical and experimental studies were performed to test the effect of pyramidal transparent covers made of Perspex on the incident radiation reaching PV panels. The energy of light depends on the electric field, and the electric field depends on the permittivity. As the relative permittivity of Perspex is higher than the relative permittivity of air, the energy of the panel with the pyramidal Perspex cover is higher than the energy of the panel without pyramids. In addition, the total irradiance reaching the base of the pyramids was investigated in order to show the effect of the incidence angle on the computed irradiance. A 3D model was constructed and tested with different pyramidal cover dimensions and incidence angles. The tested dimensions were height to base length ratios of 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5. It was found that pyramidal covers with a height to base length ratio of 1.0 achieved the best performance of the three sizes. The simulation model was applied in order to study the solar radiation model for the solar panel with and without pyramids. Two parameters were studied in order to show the effect of the pyramidal covers on solar panel irradiance; these parameters used three different sizes of pyramids to study the effect of changing the incidence angle of the radiation source. The model was constructed in ANSYS-ICEM, then the mesh was exported to FLUENT 14.5. Moreover, the incident radiation on the panel for all tested incidence angles was found to be higher than for the panels without covers. In addition, the existence of the pyramidal cover was found to enhance the homogeneity of the distribution incident of rays on the PV panels. In the case of pyramids with R = 1, enhancement became clear at an incidence angle ranging from 69° to 90°, and the percentage increase in the energy fraction reached 0.2%.

Highlights

Solar energy is the cleanest renewable energy and is available abundantly compared to other types of renewable energy resources
For the first size of pyramid, the average incident radiation on the base was calculated with and without a pyramid, and the percentage enhancement of the incident radiation due to the pyramid was calculated at each incidence angle
The contours of the incident radiation on the base were obtained for three different model sizes of pyramids and with different incidence angles of the radiation source, as shown in the figures below

Summary

Introduction

Solar energy is the cleanest renewable energy and is available abundantly compared to other types of renewable energy resources. Recent advancements in cost reduction and efficiency have made solar energy economically competitive with traditional energy resources. Solar energy use is rapidly expanding, and it plays an increasingly important role in power-generation technology. It is important that solar energy be harnessed in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Known methods that can improve efficiency include using solar concentrators, cleaning solar panels, preventing temperature increase, avoiding shaded areas, and installing the correct type of photovoltaic panels. These methods of increasing the efficiency of solar panels fall under the classification of modifying the external geometry [1,2]

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