Influence of Inclination Angles on Convective Heat Transfer in Solar Panels

This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation into the thermofluid characteristics of airflow over an inclined, heated plate, mimicking a solar panel. The inclination of the plate was systematically adjusted from 0° to 90°, and the heat flux was varied from 1000 to 4000 W/m², with Reynolds number ranging from 63,000 to 650,000. The study employed a second-order finite volume method for discretization and resolution of steady fluid dynamics problems, with simulations conducted using Ansys Fluent software. The k-ε RNG turbulence model was utilized for these simulations. The numerical results, validated against experimental data, were extrapolated to assess the behaviour at a wide range of attack angles and flow rates. Correlations were established between the average Nusselt number and friction coefficient, as functions of Reynolds number and attack angles. It was observed that heat transfer was optimized at lower attack angles. Conversely, higher inclination angles resulted in increased skin friction, thereby reducing airflow and negatively impacting heat convection. For larger Reynolds numbers, convective flow enhanced and the resistance of the plate was found to be lower at smaller attack angles. These findings have significant implications for the improvement of solar panel efficiency, offering valuable insights into the optimal configuration for maximizing convective heat transfer.