Study of Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems with MgO-Water Nanofluids Flowing over Silicon Solar Cells

Author

Cui, Yun ; Zhu, Qunzhi

Author_Institution

Sch. of Energy & Environ. Eng., Shanghai Univ. of Electr. Power, Shanghai, China

fYear

2012

fDate

27-29 March 2012

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

Solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) applications can provide heat and electricity at the same time and thus improve the conversion efficiency of solar energy. In this paper nanofluids have been applied to the top of silicon photovoltaic panel to cool down solar cells and collect heat. Nanofluids with different mass fractions have been prepared and their optical properties have been measured. The results show that the transmittance of visible lights decreases with the mass fraction and the film thickness. The solar cell temperature, the temperature difference between the entrance and outlet, and the output power of solar cells within the PV/T system have been studied. Although the electrical efficiency of the PV/T system is lower than the bare PV module, the overall energy conversion efficiency of the PV/T system is higher.

Keywords

energy conservation; manganese compounds; nanofluidics; optical properties; silicon; solar cells; MgO; PV-T system; Si; mass fractions; optical property; photovoltaic-thermal system; silicon photovoltaic panel; solar cell; solar cell temperature; solar energy conversion efficiency; water nanofluids; Films; Liquids; Nanofluidics; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic systems; Temperature measurement;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Power and Energy Engineering Conference (APPEEC), 2012 Asia-Pacific

Conference_Location

Shanghai

ISSN

2157-4839

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-0545-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/APPEEC.2012.6307203

Filename

6307203