Numerical study of the geometrically graded metal foam for concentrated photovoltaic solar cell cooling
| Autor: | Lip Huat Saw, Akhil Garg, Hui San Thiam, Nugroho Agung Pambudi, Weng Cheong Tan |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
Materials science
020209 energy Drop (liquid) 02 engineering and technology Metal foam law.invention Thermal conductivity 020401 chemical engineering law Solar cell Thermal Heat transfer 0202 electrical engineering electronic engineering information engineering Fluid dynamics 0204 chemical engineering Composite material Porosity |
| Zdroj: | Energy Procedia. 158:761-766 |
| ISSN: | 1876-6102 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.egypro.2019.01.202 |
| Popis: | Concentrated photovoltaic cell (CPV) had gained much attention recently due to high efficiency at a competitive cost. However, efficiency of CPV is inversely proportional to the temperature. Hence, it is important to reduce the maximum temperature and variation of temperature across the CPV. Metal foam with its high specific surface area, thermal conductivity and tortuous flow path to promote mixing is an ideal candidate for thermal management for CPV. However, the thermal performance of the metal foam may drop from upstream to downstream and lead to poor cooling performance near the outlet. In this study, functionally graded metal foam is attached on the CPV to extract the heat generated. Functionally graded aluminum foam with gradual variation porosity are modelled to investigate the thermal performance and flow field using computational thermal fluid dynamics analysis. Heat transfer correlation, permeability and resistance loss coefficient are extracted from the literature and used in the simulation. The results showed that functionally graded metal foam with gradual reducing porosity offered a better temperature uniformity for the CPV. Therefore, this approach will further extend the cycle life as well as improve the overall efficiency of the CPV. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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