Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of geometry on PV panel efficiency in air cooling

One of the most used technologies of solar energy, which is one of the renewable energy sources, is photovoltaic systems. Photovoltaic panels are elements that convert solar radiation directly into electrical energy. There are many parameters that affect the efficiency of photovoltaic panels such as environmental conditions, solar radiation coming to the surface and panel type. One of the factors affecting panel efficiency is high panel surface temperature. High panel surface temperature reduces the efficiency of photovoltaic panels. Various active and passive cooling methods have been developed to keep the panel surface temperature at appropriate values. In this thesis, the active cooling method in the PV panel was investigated experimentally and numerically by using the cooled air obtained by using the earth-air heat exchanger (EAHX) and the ambient air directly. Autodesk CFD was used as a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) program in numerical analysis. In the study, a cooling hood designed in three different geometries (Design1, Design2 and Design3) placed on the back surface of the PV panel was used. As a result of the data obtained by numerical and experimental studies, the most efficient result in terms of surface temperature average and pressure loss was determined as Design1 and the cooling hood with 6 blades and rectangular prismatic volume gave. It has been determined that the cooling studies with the EAHX system give more effective results than the cooling studies with the ambient air. As a result of the cooling work done with Design1, a power increase of 18.42% was achieved. It has been concluded that the cooling studies carried out under low solar radiation conditions (500 W/m2 and below) do not create big differences in terms of electrical energy produced and surface temperature. As a result of the experiments carried out, it has been determined that the use of bifacial PV panel on a white ground produces more energy compared to its use on an earthen ground. In Bifacial PV panels, it has been concluded that the use of double faces is more efficient instead of cooling the back surface.