Abstract
Temperature-induced efficiency losses have a substantial negative impact on the operational efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) modules. In this research work, variable-height plate fin heat sinks were used to improve heat transfer performance in PV modules through experimental investigation. This study investigates the thermal performance of heat sinks under varying thermal loads (25, 50, 75 and 100W) and orientations (0°, 30°, 60° and 90°). The thermal performance of the variable fin heat sink is evaluated and compared with that of a conventional plate fin heat sink. The study reveals that increasing thermal input enhances the efficiency of convective heat transfer, as demonstrated by the correlation between the Nusselt number and the heat input. The 90° orientation case exhibited superior heat dissipation, as it was optimal alignment with convective air flow. Conversely, the 0° orientation exhibited limited improvement, which may have been attributed to boundary layer effects. Comparative analyses indicate that the variable-height plate fin heat sink configurations accomplish a substantial improvement in thermal management, with efficiency improvements ranging from 10.71% to 18.52% over conventional plain plate fin designs across all tested heat inputs. This investigation offers innovative perspectives on optimisation of thermal management strategies for PV systems.
Published Version
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