DEVELOPMENT OF MICRO-NANO SCALE SURFACE COATINGS FOR THERMAL MANAGEMENT OF CONCENTRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS (CPV)

Abstract

Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) is a promising technology to overcome the high-cost problem of efficient multi-junction solar cells (MJSC). This technique replaces the expensive cell material by economic optical devices such as mirrors and lenses. However, continuous removal of high heat flux, due to the high concentration of solar light, and an increase in overall efficiency of CPV’s system are two specific challenges for its broad and effective implementation. The failure in removal of the heat flux can result in the rise of the cell temperature and hence decrease cell efficiency. This study identifies and thermodynamically analyze nucleate boiling heat transfer (NBHT) as a potential technology for thermal management of CPV. As NBHT is a surface phenomenon, new hybrid micro-nano scale surface’s coating has been developed for further improvement of NBHT process. Two-steps, hot-powder compaction and nucleate boiling process, is used for the fabrication of these surfaces. An experimental testing setup has been designed and fabricated, for the NBHT performance measurement of these surfaces. The study explains the methodology for the coating technique, its characterization, testing and the implementation to thermal management of CPV. These surfaces confirmed an enhanced thermal management performance for CPV by increasing its concentration limit and decreasing its operating temperature. The increase in concentration limit contribute significantly in reduction of the required cell material, hence making CPV more economical. Secondly, to improve the overall energy efficiency of the installed CPV, the extracted thermal energy, is analyzed for further applications. A multigeneration CPV/Thermal (CPV/T) system and a self-cooling CPV system have been designed and thermodynamically analysed using energy and exergy analysis.

Date of Award	2019
Original language	American English
Awarding Institution	HBKU College of Science and Engineering