Application of two-phase flow for cooling of hybrid microchannel PV cells: A comparative study

This paper reports the experimental data from performance of two-phase flows in a small hybrid microchannel solar cell. Using air and water as two-phase fluid, the experiments were conducted at indoor condition in an array of rectangular microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 0.667 mm. The gas superficial velocity ranges were between 0 and 3.27 m s−1 while liquid flow rate was 0.04 m s−1. The performance analysis of the PV cell at slug and transitional slug/annular flow regimes are the focus of this study. The influence of two-phase working fluid on PV cell cooling was compared with single-phase. In addition, the great potential of slug flow for heat removal enhancement in PV/T panel was investigated. The obtained data showed the proposed hybrid system could substantially increases the output power of PV solar cells.