Feasibility of flat-plate heat-sinks using microscale solar cells up to 10,000 suns concentrations

Valera, Álvaro; Fernández, Eduardo F.; Rodrigo, Pedro M.; Almonacid, Florencia

doi:10.1016/j.solener.2019.02.013

Cited by 49 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…and ∆P are the volume flow rate m 3 and pressure drop (Pa), respectively. The thermophysical properties of all the tested fluids are temperature dependent.…”

Section: Mathematical Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…where h is the convective heat transfer coefficient (W / m 2 K ), T s is the exposed surface temperature ( • C), T ∞ is the ambient temperature and is assumed to be 25 • C, ε is the emissivity of the surfaces that are subjected to radiation, and σ is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. For radiation heat transfer, the sky temperature was assumed to be equal to the ambient temperature as introduced in Equation 22for simplification, as suggested in the literature [3,17]. For the MJ solar cell domain, the law of energy conversion for a steady-state with a heat source term…”

Section: Grid Independence Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key challenge, however, is the increase in the temperature of the solar cell, which adversely affects its electrical efficiency. In light of this challenge, the MJ solar cell manufacturer (AZUR SPACE) has set a maximum operating temperature for the CPV assembly to be 110 • C in order to avoid the damage of the solar cell [3]. Araki et al [4] indicated that the solar cell temperature increases rapidly with the concentration ratio and can reach up to 1400 • C for 500× when left fully insulated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical Investigation of the Temperature Limits of an Actively Cooled High Concentration Photovoltaic System

et al. 2020

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Concentrator photovoltaics have several advantages over flat plate systems. However, the increase in solar concentration usually leads to an increase in the solar cell temperature, which decreases the performance of the system. Therefore, in this paper, we investigate the performance and temperature limits of a high concentration photovoltaic Thermal system (HCPVT) based on a 1 cm2 multi-junction solar cell subjected to a concentration ratio from 500× to 2000× by using three different types of cooling fluids (water, ethylene glycol and water mixture (60:40), and syltherm oil 800). The results show that, for this configuration, the maximum volumetric temperature of the solar cell did not exceed the manufacturer’s recommended limit for the tested fluids. At 2000× the lowest solar cell temperature obtained by using water was 93.5 °C, while it reached as high as 109 °C by using syltherm oil 800, which is almost equal to the maximum operating limit provided by the manufacturer (110 °C). Overall, the best performance in terms of temperature distribution, thermal, and electrical efficiency was achieved by using water, while the highest outlet temperature was obtained by using syltherm oil 800.

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“…and ∆P are the volume flow rate m 3 and pressure drop (Pa), respectively. The thermophysical properties of all the tested fluids are temperature dependent.…”

Section: Mathematical Modelingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Grid Independence Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Theoretical Investigation of the Temperature Limits of an Actively Cooled High Concentration Photovoltaic System

et al. 2020

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“…The use of aluminum flat plate heat sink has demonstrated excellent thermal behavior at GC above 2000 suns. 20 The utilization of different heat sink materials has already been discussed. An analytical study showed the limitations of the flat plate heat sink integration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimization and feasibility analysis of a microscale pin‐fins heat sink of an ultrahigh concentrating photovoltaic system

et al. 2020

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Nowadays, the most recent optical configuration based on Cassegrain and Fresnel lens designs of concentrator photovoltaic(CPV) has shown a race to achieve the ultrahigh concentration ratio. Still, none of those has experimentally shown an optical concentration ratio (GC) beyond 2000 suns. This is because their energy concentration ratios are challenged by the excessive temperature raised throughout the optical stages, which diminishes the efficiency of the solar cell. In this context, this research work aims to numerically investigate a microscale pin-fins heat sink configuration to enhance the thermal performance and the cost-competitivity of ultrahigh CPV thermal receiver. The impacts of the solar cell area, cell efficiency, and heat sink's material have been analyzed and discussed. The results showed that a circular pin-fins heat sink could accomplish a drop of 23.28% in the maximum operating cell temperature at 10 000 suns for cell area of 1 × 1 mm 2 relatively compared to the conventional flat-plate heat sink. Furthermore, for a circular pin-fins heat sink with a cell area of 2 × 2 mm 2 , the cell temperature started exceeding the safe operating range of temperature (80 C) at 8000 suns with an average temperature of 96.1 C and reaching a maximum of 113.91 C at 10 000 suns. A gradient temperature on the planar direction of the aluminum circular pin-fins heat sink was about 1.187 C at 10 000 suns whereas 0.703 C was recorded in the case of a copper circular pin-fins heat sink. The circular pin-fins heat sink showed the highest thermal performance resulting in maintaining the solar cell temperature within its safe operating range even beyond 10 000 suns. From an economic point of view, aluminum circular pin-fins heat sink has been found to be less costly than the copper one. Finally, it was found that at 8000 suns, the flat-plate heat sink cost is more expensive than the traditional pin-fins heat sink by 14.7%, where the flat-plate heat sink becomes the worst economic configuration at 10 000 suns. At that concentration ratio, the cost has increased by 43.38%, 5.75%, and 10.61% compared to the traditional pin-fins heat sink, cylindrical pin-fins heat sink, and circular pin-fins heat sink, respectively.

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“…Teles et al [8] focused on investigating the performance of a new version of evacuated tube solar collector with and without solar tracking system. Valera et al [9] numerically investigated the feasibility of passive cooling mechanisms for microscale solar cells under ultra-high (UH) concentration levels, > 2,000 suns. Durth et al [10] described the impact of the use of salts with higher sodium concentration salts in a commercial plant performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Study and Comparison Between Two Receivers of Parabolic Trough Collector

Bendjamaa¹,

Allaoui²,

Menni³

et al. 2019

MMEP

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In this paper, we studied in particular solar energy that recovers heat from solar radiation in a fluid, by converting the solar energy into thermal energy by the implementation of thermal solar collectors. This study is the modeling of heat transfer of the parabolic solar collector trough. The objective of this recent simulation is to determine the variation of the outlet temperature, the useful energy and the thermal efficiency of two different receivers. The fluid is water liquid. In order to determine these parameters, we simulate the different types of receivers by the MATLAB/Simulink. According to the simulation findings, using the second receiver leads to an increase of the fluid temperature at the output and the overall solar collector thermal efficiency.

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Feasibility of flat-plate heat-sinks using microscale solar cells up to 10,000 suns concentrations

Cited by 49 publications

References 30 publications

Theoretical Investigation of the Temperature Limits of an Actively Cooled High Concentration Photovoltaic System

Theoretical Investigation of the Temperature Limits of an Actively Cooled High Concentration Photovoltaic System

Optimization and feasibility analysis of a microscale pin‐fins heat sink of an ultrahigh concentrating photovoltaic system

Study and Comparison Between Two Receivers of Parabolic Trough Collector

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