The performance of photovoltaic (PV) arrays are affected by the operating temperature, which is influenced by thermal losses to the ambient environment. The factors affecting thermal losses include wind speed, wind direction, and ambient temperature. The purpose of this work is to analyze how the aforementioned factors affect array efficiency, temperature, and heat transfer coefficient/thermal loss factor. Data on ambient and array temperatures, wind speed and direction, solar irradiance, and electrical output were collected from a PV array mounted on a CanmetENERGY facility in Varennes, Canada, and analyzed. The results were compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and existing results from PVsyst. The findings can be summarized into three points. First, ambient temperature and wind speed are important factors in determining PV performance, while wind direction seems to play a minor role. Second, CFD simulations found that temperature variation on the PV array surface is greater at lower wind speeds, and decreases at higher wind speeds. Lastly, an empirical correlation of heat transfer coefficient/thermal loss factor has been developed.
Electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) cells are affected by their operating temperatures, which lead to changes in the performance of the PV panel. The performance and efficiency of a PV system is dependent upon many factors, such as its angle of incidence, accumulation of dust, speed and direction of natural winds. Particularly, angle of incidence between solar rays and PV modules is the most important. This paper will focus on developing a numerical tool for predicting the optimal tilt angle, based on wind flow over PV panel in a fixed tilt array, in order to observe the effects on performance. A 1.651 m long by 0.991 m wide solar PV panel is used in the analysis. The panel is mounted on top of a tall building and the tilt angle is fixed at one angle. This paper will observe how the PV panel is affected by wind flow and how the optimal tilt angle will change, and if it is necessary to account for convection. Increasing convective heat transfer has the potential to reduce the operating temperatures of photovoltaic solar panels thus increasing their efficiency and producing more power. This relationship was used in a numerical tool to predict the performance of the panel at different tilt angles and different wind speeds. The results show that wind speed and direction do affect power output and that designers should account for convective effects when designing positioning and orientation of solar panels.
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