Experimental research on the convective heat transfer coefficient of photovoltaic panel

Abstract

The convective heat transfer between wind and photovoltaic (PV) panels will cause fluctuations in the temperature and performance of PV cells, which have a great negative impact on the grid-connected solar energy. The development of large-scale PV power plants in desertification areas has certain advantages, but the output power fluctuations caused by windy-dusty environment will be more common and important. This paper established a new model of convective heat transfer coefficient with and without dust deposition. Results show that the convective heat transfer coefficient of PV panel is not only affected by wind speed and dust density, but also related to the tilt angle of panel. As the dust accumulation density increases, the convective heat transfer coefficient of the dusty PV panel firstly increasing and then decreasing, and the maximum value appears when the dust deposition density is 20 g/m2. In addition, the average heat transfer coefficient of dusty PV module is slightly higher than that of clean PV panels by 4.13%, which can be revealed by the thermal diffusivity. This work confirms the influence of dust on the convective heat transfer characteristics, and provides an important basis for establishing a more practical PV panel temperature prediction model.