Analysis of the potential for a heat island effect in large solar farms

Large-scale solar power plants are being built at a rapid rate, and are setting up to use hundreds of thousands of acres of land surface. The thermal energy flows to the environment related to the operation of such facilities have not, so far, been addressed comprehensively. We are developing rigorous computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation capabilities for modeling the air velocity, turbulence, and energy flow fields induced by large solar PV farms to answer questions pertaining to potential impacts of solar farms on local microclimate. Using the CFD codes Ansys CFX and Fluent, we conducted detailed 3-D simulations of a 1 MW section of a solar farm in North America and compared the results with recorded wind and temperature field data from the whole solar farm. Both the field data and the simulations show that the annual average of air temperatures in the center of PV field can reach up to 1.9°C above the ambient temperature, and that this thermal energy completely dissipates to the environment at heights of 5 to 18 m The data also show a prompt dissipation of thermal energy with distance from the solar farm, with the air temperatures approaching (within 0.3°C) the ambient at about 300 m away of the perimeter of the solar farm. Analysis of 18 months of detailed data showed that in most days, the solar array was completely cooled at night, and, thus, it is unlikely that a heat island effect could occur. Work is in progress to approximate the flow fields in the solar farm with 2-D simulations and detail the temperature and wind profiles of the whole utility scale PV plant and the surrounding region. The results from these simulations can be extrapolated to assess potential local impacts from a number of solar farms reflecting various scenarios of large PV penetration into regional and global grids.