Transient thermal-electrical performance modelling of solar concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) receiver

• Published in: Solar energy 2020-11, Vol.211, p.897-907
• Main Authors: Maka, Ali O.M., O'Donovan, Tadhg S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cell temperature; Concentrating photovoltaic receiver; Conversion efficiency; Steady-state condition; Transient model
• ISSN: 0038-092X; 1471-1257
• DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2020.10.029

•Transient and steady-state thermal-electrical behaviour has been analysed by using MATLAB and COMSOL.•The operating temperature variable from 25 to 80 °C and CR = 500x is considered in this study.•The steady-state cell temperature occurs at 78.4 °C within the 30 s, at DNI = 1000 W/m2 and Tamb = 25 °C.•Cell temperature and cell conversion efficiency are affected by the changes of parameters for Tamb, hconv, DNI and AM. The cell efficiency of a solar CPV system can be enhanced by the dissipation of the thermal load from the receiver assembly. The performance of the solar cell is influenced by the incident light and cell operating temperature. In this study, a triple-junction solar cell, under a concentration ratio of 500x and cell dynamic efficiency, is considered for a wide range of operating temperatures (25-80 °C). The key purpose of this work is to simulate both transient and steady-state operating conditions, based on the temperature-dependent conversion efficiency. In this study, a transient model has been developed using COMSOL Multiphysics®. A live-link technique of COMSOL with MATLAB® is used to couple of successive thermal and electrical steady-state models for a fixed timestep. The performance behaviour of electrical parameters Jsc, Voc, P, FF and Pmax are investigated. The results show that a dynamical efficiency, compared with constant efficiency and integrated error, was approximately 12%. The cell cycle steady-state temperature occurs at a maximum cell temperature of 78.4 °C within 30 s at the convective heat transfer coefficient hconv = 1400 W/m2 K and 500x of concentration ratio. Thus, steady-state cell temperature and time to reach it significantly dependence on the values of the environmental parameters of DNI, AM and Tamb. Therefore, we can determine the thermal response of hconv to keep the value of Tcell ≤ 80 °C.