Post on 22-Dec-2015
MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF A HYBRID SOLAR PANEL
Robert Collins and Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete
Rensselaer at Hartford
Hybrid Solar Panel
• Uses PV cell to convert a fraction of the solar irradiance into electricity.
• Uses heat exchanger principles to store most of the solar irradiance NOT converted into electricity as useful thermal energy inside a working fluid.
• The use of the heat exchanger reduces heating of the PV cell and increases its conversion efficiency.
Hybrid Solar Panel Schematic
Steady 2D Turbulent Flow of a Non-Isothermal Newtonian Fluid:
Governing Equations∂vx/∂x + ∂vy/∂y = 0
v · v∇ x = − ∂p/∂x + µ∇2 vx + ρgx
v · v∇ y = − ∂p/∂y + µ∇2 vy + ρgy
k-ε Turbulence Model
ρ Cp v · T = k∇ ∇2 T
Boundary Conditions
Model Geometry and Input
Material Property Value Reference
PV Cell ρ 2329 Siliconk 130
700ε .60 [11]
Thermal Paste ρ 3500 [12]k 2.87
.7Copper ρ 8700 Copper
k 400385
Water ρ 997.1 Water @ 25°Ck .611
= 4.184μ 902 x 10-6
Finite Element Model Mesh
Computed Velocity Field
Computed Temperature and Heat Flux Fields
Hybrid Panel Overall Efficiency
Conclusions• The greatest overall PV/T module efficiency of 85.7%
occurs with the labyrinth arrangement or the arrangement with 27 top and 27 bottom fins that are ¾ the height of the flow path. This is an approximate 5.7% increase in efficiency over the arrangement with no fins.
• When connected as an array, three modules linked in a head to tail arrangement, heat the water by 16.5 degrees Celsius and collect energy from the environment in the form of usable electrical and thermal energy.