Development of a real-scale cooling module for a PV power plant

• Published in: IET renewable power generation 2018-03, Vol.12 (4), p.450-455
• Main Authors: Silva, Vinícius O. da, Gimenes, André L.V, Udaeta, Miguel E.M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: coil; coils; commercial electricity production; cooling; multichannel type model; nominal operating cell temperature; photovoltaic cooling system; photovoltaic power systems; power generation control; PV cooling system; PV module; PV power plant; real‐scale cooling module; Research Article; sheet‐and‐tube model; size 140 nm; size 85 nm; welding process
• ISSN: 1752-1416; 1752-1424; 1752-1424
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-rpg.2016.0192

The goal of this study is to develop units of a photovoltaic (PV) cooling system and evaluate its performance, aiming at commercial electricity production, once the increase in electricity output is obtained by cooling down the temperature of the PV module. The methodology covers the description of production procedures, control and verification of three different models of the cooling system, of which two are sheet-and-tube types, with different diameters of coil curvature (85 and 140 mm), and one is a multi-channel type model. Results show that the production of the two sheet-and-tube models presented no issues during their construction and operating phases, while the multiple-channel model presented some complications at the construction phase (e.g. the thickness of the sheets hampered the welding process, leading to leakages during the tightness tests). The empirical control tests showed that the temperature of the PV module with a cooling system applied remains lower than the nominal operating cell temperature, whereas the PV modules without a cooling system presented temperatures higher than 68.1°C. Thus, the authors conclude that the most appropriate model for large-scale production applied at PV systems is the coil one, with 85 mm of the diameter of coil curvature.