Thermal Management and Sustainable Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies Research Center, University of Tabuk, Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2024 Jul 11;19(7):e0302326. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0302326. eCollection 2024.
In hot dry regions, photovoltaic modules are exposed to excessive temperatures, which leads to a drop in performance and the risk of overheating. The present numerical study aims to evaluate the natural air cooling of PV modules by an inclined chimney mounted at the back. The basic equations were solved using the finite volume method. The validity of the model is verified by comparison with the data available in the literature. Thermal and dynamic flow patterns are analyzed for a variety of parameters: Rayleigh numbers from 102 to 106, PV panel tilt angle from 15° to 90°, and channel aspect ratios from 1/20 to 1/5. A critical aspect ratio has been determined to minimize overheating of the PV module. According to the computational results, the tilt angle and modified Rayleigh number increase the mass flow rate and mean Nusselt number. The overheating zone with maximum temperatures is located in the upper part of the photovoltaic panel. The addition of an extension to both channel's inlet and outlet was found to improve the cooling of the photovoltaic panels; however, only the extensions downstream of the channel are truly effective. The critical lengths at which channel performance improves significantly were identified by examining the impact of longer extensions on channel performance. Increasing the extension length from 0 to 3H improves the mass flow rate by 65%, the average Nusselt number by 13.4%, and leads to an 11% decrease in maximum temperature when Ra* = 106. This cooling technique is particularly promising for hot dry regions where water is scarce.
在炎热干燥的地区，光伏组件会暴露在过高的温度下，这会导致性能下降和过热的风险。本数值研究旨在通过安装在背面的倾斜烟囱来评估光伏组件的自然空气冷却。基本方程使用有限体积法求解。通过与文献中可用的数据进行比较，验证了模型的有效性。分析了各种参数的热和动力流动模式：瑞利数从 102 到 106，光伏板倾斜角度从 15 度到 90 度，以及通道纵横比从 1/20 到 1/5。确定了一个临界纵横比，以最小化光伏模块的过热。根据计算结果，倾斜角度和修正瑞利数增加了质量流量和平均努塞尔数。最高温度的过热区域位于光伏板的上部。发现增加通道入口和出口的延伸部分可以改善光伏板的冷却效果；然而，只有通道下游的延伸部分才真正有效。通过检查更长的延伸部分对通道性能的影响，确定了通道性能显著提高的临界长度。将延伸长度从 0 增加到 3H 可以将质量流量提高 65%，平均努塞尔数提高 13.4%，并在 Ra* = 106 时将最大温度降低 11%。这种冷却技术对于水资源稀缺的炎热干燥地区特别有前途。
