Numerical investigation of a photovoltaic module under different weather conditions

Abstract

In this study, a numerical investigation of the uncooled polycrystalline concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) module was established using ANSYS software. The main objective is to estimate the maximum allowable solar concentration ratio (CR) at which the CPV module can safely operate without overheating. The numerical model was validated using data from the literature, resulting in a very good agreement. The thermal and electrical performance of the CPV module was studied at different ambient temperatures (0, 10, 20, 30, and 40 °C), wind speeds (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 m/s), and CR number of (1.0,1.5, and 2.0 suns). This smaller CR can be achieved using a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC). The CPV system can safely operate when CR ranges from 1.0 to 1.5 suns, (1 Sun = 1000 W/m2), at all studied values of ambient temperatures and wind speeds. However, increasing the CR up to 2.0 makes results in a safe operation at wind speed values from 3 to 5 m/s. Further, the electrical efficiency increases rapidly by increasing the wind speed from 1 to 2 m/s and this increase gradually drops by growing the wind speed from 3 to 5 m/s. Furthermore, the minimum solar cell efficiency reached 12.56% at CR of 2.0 and 1 m/s. The highest heat dissipation from the CPV module is occurred at the lower ambient temperature and gradually decreases as wind speed rises.