Thermal performance of three concentrating collectors with bifacial PV cells. Part II – parametrical study

One of the problems in using PV cells to extract energy from sunlight is the temperature effect on PV cells. As the solar panel is heated, the conversion efficiency of light to electrical energy is diminished. Moreover, successive temperature elevations can cause dilatations in the array of cells which may also contribute to the degradation of the receiver. Some of the operating temperature mitigation approaches may include air-flow ventilation. In this study, data obtained by experimental and numerical simulations of a collector with bifacial PV cells is compared to the expressions found in the literature for the estimation of the heat transfer coefficient. Forced ventilation was applied to the studied collector as it accounts for much better heat dissipation. A new correlation for the estimation of the heat transfer coefficient is developed for such a geometry, for inlet velocities ranging between 3 and 8 m/s. Values of heat transfer coefficient estimated in the present work have been compared with studies of other researchers.