Natural cooling of two axis tracking photovoltaic module

Abstract

ABSTRACT Recently, the solar energy is considered as one of the most essential alternative sources of energy, which make it significant to operate the photovoltaic (PV) modules at optimal points to attain maximum output powers at utmost efficiencies. In this work, a novel operational optimization scheme is proposed to maximize the electrical output power and its efficiency for two axis sun tracking PV module. The technique incorporates the influence of the surrounding environmental parameters; such as ambient temperature, wind speed, and wind direction to improve performance. The increase in power and efficiency is accomplished by benefiting from the local wind speed and wind direction to cool the cells temperatures, which in return assist the PV to operate at its Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). These newly proposed operating angles (i.e., Azimuth and Tilt) for two axis sun tracking systems may not necessarily coincide with the perpendicular orientation used by conventional sun tracking PV modules. Finally, the effectiveness of the operational optimization technique and its effect on MPPT was verified using computer simulations using actual collected weather data that was obtained from Shams Maan weather station in Jordan.