Cool Photovoltaics

Photovoltaic cells under concentrated illumination
experience a high heat load which must be dissipated
efficiently in order to maintain a low cell
temperature. Tower and dish solar concentrators
typically use arrays of densely packed cells where
all of the heat must be removed in the direction
normal to the surface. This book identifies jet
impingement cooling as a promising technology for
this type of configuration. A prototype cooling
device is manufactured and the heat transfer and flow
characteristics of this device are tested in the
laboratory. Correlations for average heat transfer
coefficient and pressure drop are established and
combined to form a model for required pumping power
at a given average heat transfer coefficient. This
model is used to make general predictions for the
optimal cooling device configuration and to propose
an optimising design procedure. Combining this model
with a model for PV output as a function of
temperature gives the optimal system operating range.
The effect of a nonuniform heat transfer coefficient
distribution on single and interconnected PV cells is
investigated and found to be minor.

Autorentext
Anja Røyne (born 1981 in Oslo, Norway) received her MSc degree
from the University of Sydney in 2005 on the topic of cooling of
photovoltaics under high concentration. Her undergraduate Physics
degree is from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. She is
currently pursuing a PhD at Physics of Geological Processes at
the University of Oslo.

Klappentext
Photovoltaic cells under concentrated illumination experience a high heat load which must be dissipated efficiently in order to maintain a low cell temperature. Tower and dish solar concentrators typically use arrays of densely packed cells where all of the heat must be removed in the direction normal to the surface. This book identifies jet impingement cooling as a promising technology for this type of configuration. A prototype cooling device is manufactured and the heat transfer and flow characteristics of this device are tested in the laboratory. Correlations for average heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop are established and combined to form a model for required pumping power at a given average heat transfer coefficient. This model is used to make general predictions for the optimal cooling device configuration and to propose an optimising design procedure. Combining this model with a model for PV output as a function of temperature gives the optimal system operating range. The effect of a nonuniform heat transfer coefficient distribution on single and interconnected PV cells is investigated and found to be minor.