A Numerical Approach to Study the Performance of Photovoltaic Panels by using Aluminium Heat Sink

Gabriel Setyohandoko; Bayu Sutanto; Rendy Adhi Rachmanto; Dominicus Danardono Dwi Prija  Tjahjana; Zainal Arifin

Authors

Gabriel Setyohandoko Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java 57126 Indonesia
Bayu Sutanto Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java 57126 Indonesia
Rendy Adhi Rachmanto Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java 57126 Indonesia
Dominicus Danardono Dwi Prija Tjahjana Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java 57126 Indonesia
Zainal Arifin Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta, Central Java 57126 Indonesia

Keywords:

heat sink, Photovoltaic panel, heat transfer, computational fluid dynamics, operating temperature, passive cooling, efficiency

Abstract

The increase of operating temperature of photovoltaic (PV) panels due to excess heat from solar irradiance leads to a decrease in efficiency and the lifespan of PV panels. In this paper, a numerical model of temperature reduction of the photovol-taic panels by using air-cooled heat sink with Re = 13100 was studied. The heat sink was devised as an aluminum baseplate with perforated fins attached to its surface. The cooling efficiency was determined by comparing the simulation of the photovoltaic panel’s performance with heat sink and without heat sink using ANSYS-Fluent software. The simulation results were presented by temperature distribution contour of the PV module and velocity profile of air moving through the heat sink. An average decrease of 13.1°C in temperature and increase of 0.8% in efficiency of the PV module was achieved on the model with heat sink, provid-ing a promising solution to overcome overheating PV panels.