Mathematical modelling and technical analysis of an auxiliary system to reflect solar radiations for PV panels: Effect of mirror height on the system performance

• Published in: Solar Energy Advances 2024, Vol.4, p.100069, Article 100069
• Main Authors: Moltames, Rahim, Noorollahi, Younes, Yousefi, Hossein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: LCPV; Low concentrating photovoltaics; Photovoltaics; Solar energy
• ISSN: 2667-1131; 2667-1131
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seja.2024.100069

•A new auxiliary system to reflect solar radiations for PV panels is designed.•An energy balance model with zero-dimensional characteristics is developed to thermal analysis of the system.•The proposed reflector system improves the efficiency of the PV system, consequently, increasing the output electric power generation of the system.•Using the proposed system decreases the energy production cost from 7 cents/kWh to 6 cents/kWh in comparison with the conventional PV system. The present study represents the design of a new auxiliary system to reflect solar radiations for PV panels. The goal is to choose the best mirror height for the proposed system, in which, despite the increase in the power production, the construction costs of the reflective system remain reasonable. Using a maximum PowerPoint Tracker System (MPPT), the sun is tracked to optimize solar radiation on the PV module. To analyze the energy aspects of the proposed system, an energy balance model with zero-dimensional characteristics was developed, owing to the uniform distribution of solar radiation and the thinness of the PV layers. In this model, the temperature distribution along the thickness of the panel layers is considered constant. Our simulation results indicate that the proposed system enables the production of approximately 2.9 times more electrical energy in comparison to conventional PVs without the concentrator, thereby demonstrating the energetic viability of the proposed system.