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Numerical Study of a Natural Convection Cooling Loop System for Floating Photovoltaic Panels

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IGEC Transactions, Volume 1: Energy Conversion and Management (IAGE 2023)

Part of the book series: Springer Proceedings in Energy ((SPE))

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Abstract

Floating photovoltaic (FPV) system offers advantages, such as being free from shading and large open land area, controlling water losses and algae boom, minimising dust pollution, being easy to maintain, and lowering temperature due to water evaporation. In addition, the low operating temperature of solar cells will increase the system's electrical energy output and efficiency. This research will investigate the potential of a natural convection cooling loop to decrease the temperature of FPV panels without external energy. The objective is to develop a numerical model for the entire system, which includes radiation absorption, natural convection, heat conduction and electrical power generation, to understand and optimise the thermal performance. This is achieved by first modelling a simplified natural convection cooling loop, using computational fluid dynamics and then by gradually adding further modelling elements, to take into account the daily variation of heat input, thermal radiation exchanges, heat conduction, electrical generation, and heat losses. Preliminary results show that the natural convection cooling loop system effectively improves the cooling rate of FPVs. Simulations produced so far, provide important and new insights of how natural convection cooling can be introduced to FPV cells and how it can be optimised.

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Abbreviations

A:

Area, m2

cp:

Specific heat, J/kg.K

E:

Energy, J

EVA:

Ethylene-vinyl acetate

g:

Gravity

Gr:

Grashof number

I:

Current, Ampere

k:

Thermal conductivity, W/m.K

L:

Characteristic length

LES:

Large Eddy simulation

\(\dot{m}\):

Mass flow rate

Nu:

Nusselt number

P:

Pressure

PCM:

Phase change material

Pr:

Prandtl number

PV:

Photovoltaic

q:

Heat transfer

Ra:

Rayleigh number

SIMPLE:

Semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equation

T:

Temperature, K

t:

Time, s

u:

Velocity, m/s

URANS:

Unsteady Reynold-average Navies Stokes

V:

Voltage, Volt

v:

Kinematic viscosity

WVC:

Water veil cooling

\(\beta\):

Coefficient of thermal expansion

\(\eta\):

Efficiency

\(\rho\):

Density, kg/m3

\(\mu\):

Dynamic viscosity

amb:

Ambient

f:

Fluid

ref:

Reference

sr:

Solar irradiation

th:

Thermal

w:

Wall

“:

Flux

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Acknowledgements

The first author acknowledges the Center for Education Funding Services (Puslapdik), the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology (Kemdikbudristek), and the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) for the Indonesian Education Scholarship (BPI) doctoral program.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermo-Fluids Group, School of Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Bayu Sutanto, Hector Iacovides, Adel Nasser & Imran Afgan

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Politeknik Negeri Semarang, Jl. Prof. H. Soedarto S.H., Tembalang, Semarang, 50275, Indonesia

    Bayu Sutanto

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Robotics), Guangdong Technion—Israel Institute of Technology, 241 Daxue Road, Shantou, 515063, Guangdong, China

    Andrea Cioncolini

  4. Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Khalifa University, P.O. Box 127788, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Imran Afgan

Authors
  1. Bayu Sutanto
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  2. Hector Iacovides
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  3. Adel Nasser
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  4. Andrea Cioncolini
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  5. Imran Afgan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bayu Sutanto .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mississippi State University, Mississippi, MS, USA

    Jian Zhao

  2. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Sambhaji Kadam

  3. University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Zhibin Yu

  4. Dept of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engg, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Xianguo Li

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Sutanto, B., Iacovides, H., Nasser, A., Cioncolini, A., Afgan, I. (2024). Numerical Study of a Natural Convection Cooling Loop System for Floating Photovoltaic Panels. In: Zhao, J., Kadam, S., Yu, Z., Li, X. (eds) IGEC Transactions, Volume 1: Energy Conversion and Management. IAGE 2023. Springer Proceedings in Energy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48902-0_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48902-0_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-48901-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-48902-0

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