Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell
A numerical heat transfer model was developed to investigate the temperature of a triple junction solar cell and the thermal characteristics of the airflow in a channel behind the solar cell assembly using nonuniform incident illumination. The effects of nonuniformity parameters, emissivity of the t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2014-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/642819 |
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| _version_ | 1832559190410788864 |
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| author | Fahad Al-Amri Tapas Kumar Mallick |
| author_facet | Fahad Al-Amri Tapas Kumar Mallick |
| author_sort | Fahad Al-Amri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A numerical heat transfer model was developed to investigate the temperature of a triple junction solar cell and the thermal characteristics of the airflow in a channel behind the solar cell assembly using nonuniform incident illumination. The effects of nonuniformity parameters, emissivity of the two channel walls, and Reynolds number were studied. The maximum solar cell temperature sharply increased in the presence of nonuniform light profiles, causing a drastic reduction in overall efficiency. This resulted in two possible solutions for solar cells to operate in optimum efficiency level: (i) adding new receiver plate with higher surface area or (ii) using forced cooling techniques to reduce the solar cell temperature. Thus, surface radiation exchanges inside the duct and Re significantly reduced the maximum solar cell temperature, but a conventional plain channel cooling system was inefficient for cooling the solar cell at medium concentrations when the system was subjected to a nonuniform light distribution. Nonuniformity of the incident light and surface radiation in the duct had negligible effects on the collected thermal energy. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-14794176591843b39b7173cb6da25b84 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1110-662X 1687-529X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Photoenergy |
| spelling | doaj-art-14794176591843b39b7173cb6da25b842025-02-03T01:30:38ZengWileyInternational Journal of Photoenergy1110-662X1687-529X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/642819642819Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar CellFahad Al-Amri0Tapas Kumar Mallick1College of Technology, P.O. Box 7650, Dammam 31472, Saudi ArabiaEnvironment & Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall TR10 9EZ, UKA numerical heat transfer model was developed to investigate the temperature of a triple junction solar cell and the thermal characteristics of the airflow in a channel behind the solar cell assembly using nonuniform incident illumination. The effects of nonuniformity parameters, emissivity of the two channel walls, and Reynolds number were studied. The maximum solar cell temperature sharply increased in the presence of nonuniform light profiles, causing a drastic reduction in overall efficiency. This resulted in two possible solutions for solar cells to operate in optimum efficiency level: (i) adding new receiver plate with higher surface area or (ii) using forced cooling techniques to reduce the solar cell temperature. Thus, surface radiation exchanges inside the duct and Re significantly reduced the maximum solar cell temperature, but a conventional plain channel cooling system was inefficient for cooling the solar cell at medium concentrations when the system was subjected to a nonuniform light distribution. Nonuniformity of the incident light and surface radiation in the duct had negligible effects on the collected thermal energy.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/642819 |
| spellingShingle | Fahad Al-Amri Tapas Kumar Mallick Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell International Journal of Photoenergy |
| title | Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell |
| title_full | Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell |
| title_short | Effects of Nonuniform Incident Illumination on the Thermal Performance of a Concentrating Triple Junction Solar Cell |
| title_sort | effects of nonuniform incident illumination on the thermal performance of a concentrating triple junction solar cell |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/642819 |
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