Passive cooling of building-integrated photovoltaics in desert conditions: Experiment and modeling

Abstract

The efficiency of photovoltaic modules depends mainly on the cell operating temperatures. Performance enhancement of building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) panels by passive cooling has been investigated both experimentally and with computational modeling. It has been shown that mounting the BIPV with a narrow channel can reduce the operating temperature of the photovoltaic panel. This enhancement in the heat transfer from the PV panel results in decreasing the average temperature of the PV panel from 5 to 10 °C. Results show that having a 30 cm channel beneath the panel can increase the electrical output by 3–4%. This increase in PV output can translate into a significant amount over the life cycle of a given PV module. Various channel aspect ratios have been tested in order to correlate the enhancement in performance to the cooling channel geometry. There is significant consistency between the experimentally measured PV panel surface temperatures and those obtained from the computational model.