Temperature inside cooler box and temperature on the surface of PV panel without cooling method applied. Temperature inside cooling box and temperature on the surface of PV panel with water cooling method applied.
Problem Statement 1
ANSYS Steady State Thermal and Fluid Flow (Fluent) was used to determine the surface temperature distribution on the PV panel. The temperature distribution on the top surface of the PV panel is shown in Figure 23. For the experiment with no cooling method used, the ambient temperature and the temperature on the top surface of the PV panel were recorded at 30°C, while the temperature inside the cooling box was recorded at 27°C.
The temperature at the surface of the PV panel remains constant at around 40.3°C until the end of the experiment. For the applied air cooling method experiment, the ambient temperature and the temperature on the top surface of the PV panel were recorded at 31°C while the temperature inside the cooler box was recorded at 28°C. The temperature at the surface of the PV panel remains constant at around 27.1°C until the end of the experiment.
In the experiment using the water cooling method, the ambient temperature and the temperature on the top surface of the PV panel were recorded at 31.6 °C, while the temperature inside the cooling box was recorded at 28.3 °C. The temperature on the surface of the photovoltaic panel remains constant at around 22.4 °C until the end of the experiment.
Objective of Project 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
Cooling system of Thermoelectric Cooler 6
Saifizi et al., 2018) analyzed and evaluated the cooling temperature of the hybrid TEC system based on a continuous air-to-air heat pump. An experiment was conducted based on the heat exchanger of the thermoelectric system to optimize the heat transfer with the aim of improving the COP of the system and increasing the cooling capacity (Luo et al. 2003).
Solar Photovoltaic 9
In addition to the external heatsink, the location of the internal heatsink is one of the key factors for the cooling area due to the circulation of the cooling air. Then the generated charge carriers are collected in the illuminated area of the solar cell.
Thermoelectric Cooling System Driven by Photovoltaic System 10
In developing the thermoelectric household refrigeration system powered by PV system, the Peltier module has a lower performance and COP compared to the conventional compressor unit due to the problem of insulation. Thus, the performance of the PV-powered thermoelectric cooling system is paramount to the COP of the entire system.
Electrical and Cooling Performance of System 11
Then (Liu et al., 2015) worked on an experimental study and analyzed the performance of solar thermoelectric chiller and the COP is relatively higher compared to Abdul-Wahab's experiment which was 3.01 by supplying hot water to the system. The performance of a thermoelectric chiller powered by a solar energy system depends on insolation, PV efficiency and chiller capacity. This is due to the fact that water vapor in the environment emits more wave radiation into the atmosphere, so precipitation affects the spectral transmittance.
Performance of Solar Panel with Cooling Effect 13
Dubey and Tiwari 2008) applied a diverse solution method to lower the surface temperature of PV panels and studied the relationship between conversion efficiency and PV panel top surface temperature. Sabry et al., 2018) concluded that the performance of water as a cooling material for the PV panel is relatively higher and better compared to air as a cooling material due to the high glass surface of the water. Apart from the active cooling method, the design and geometry of the PV system can improve the overall performance of the system.
Rajaee et al., 2020) studied the vented channel for cooling at the bottom of the PV panel by air cooling, but this passive cooling method is expensive and not convenient for small-scale projects.
Modelling and Simulation 15
The infrared thermometer shown in figure 12 was used for measuring the surface temperature on the PV panel to evaluate the temperature difference with and without the application of cooling method on the surface. First, ANSYS Steady State Thermal was used for analysis of the working condition of the PV panel without applying any cooling method. Moreover, the liquid-solid interface on the top surface of the PV panel was applied for the determination of temperature distribution of PV panel when the water carries away the heat.
Based on the three simulation results with different cooling methods for the PV panel, the temperature on the top surface of the PV panel is lowered compared to the condition without applying the cooling method. Based on the experimental result, the temperature in the cool box does not change and remains constant until 10 minutes of the experiment, which is about 27°C. The temperature in the cool box remains constant at 13°C during the 40 minute experiment period until the end of the experiment.
Based on the experimental results, the temperature in the cooling chamber does not change and maintains a constant value up to 8 minutes of the experiment, which is around 28 °C. Based on the experimental result, the temperature inside the cooling chamber does not change and maintains a constant value up to 8 minutes of the experimental period, which is around 28.2 °C.
METHODOLOGY AND WORK PLAN
Apparatus 17
- Solar Panel 17
- Thermoelectric Module 18
- Heat sink with Cooling Fan 19
- Thermal Grease 19
- Chiller Box 20
- Water Tubing Pipe 20
- Portable Fan 21
The heat sink consists of aluminum alloy with dimensions of 4.5*4*3 cm which was used for heat dissipation from the TEC to the environment and temperature reduction within the cooling area. A cooler box with dimensions of 29*17*20 cm in which the material consists of polyfoam was used as the cooling space for the project as shown in figure 8. The water tube pipe with dimensions of 13 mm diameter as shown in figure 9 was used to transfer the water to the PV panel to lower the surface temperature of the PV panel in order to improve the system and COP.
The portable fan with the dimension cm shown in Figure 10 has a maximum power of 4.5 W was used for the active air cooling for the PV panel to increase the system performance.
Equipment 21
Temperature and Humidity Sensor 22
Infrared Thermometer 22
Solar Panel Charger Controller 23
ANSYS Simulation 24
- Introduction 24
- Steady State Thermal without Cooling Method 25
- Air Cooling Method 26
- Water Cooling Method 29
The body-sizing method was applied for the soft behavior PV panel geometry and resulted in 13,585 nodes and 33,525 elements generated. In addition to the air cooling method, the water cooling method was adopted where the water passed through the surface of the PV panel for heat dissipation. The body-sizing method was applied for the soft behavior PV panel geometry and resulted in 26,593 nodes and 59,547 elements generated.
The direction of the specification method was normal to the boundary and the turbulent intensity was 5%.
Experimental Work 32
A square window was cut through the side of the cooling box to allow the placement of the thermoelectric cooler with heat sink and fan, the dimension of which was 4*4.5 cm. Then, the humidity and temperature sensor was placed inside the cooling box with two similar heat sinks as shown in Figure 21. Next, the PV panel was connected to the solar charge controller, and the cable of fans and thermoelectric cooler was connected to the port accessible from the solar charger controller to receive the power supply from the solar panel.
Cooling Load Analysis 35
The other three edges on the top surface of PV panel achieve similar temperature distribution based on the simulation results which is about 41°C. Air cooling method also reduces the temperature on the top surface of the PV panel, but less than the result of the water cooling method, in which the temperature dropped. Next, the temperature on the surface of PV panel started to decrease from 31°C slowly until 36 minutes of experiment.
Subsequently, the temperature on the surface of the PV panel started to decrease slowly from 30.6 °C to 38 minutes of experimentation, during which the temperature reached 22.3 °C. On the other hand, the air cooling method has a relatively lower performance where the temperature for the cooler box was 12.5°C and 27.1°C for the surface temperature of the PV panel. Coefficient of performance (COP) was performed to evaluate the effect of non-cooling and cooling method on the PV panel.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Simulation Result 40
With thermal steady state simulation, it can be seen that the temperature range of the solar cell reached about 37 °C. The middle part of the solar cell has a higher value compared to the surrounding area of the solar cell. With simulation of liquid flow (flowing), it can be seen that the temperature range of the top surface of the PV panel reached about 300K, which is 27°C.
The middle part of the solar cell has a lower value compared to the surrounding area of the solar cell.
Experimental Result 45
The experimental result of the PV panel water cooling method achieved the lowest temperature in the cooling box and the lowest temperature distribution on the surface of the PV panel among the three experiments where the temperature was recorded at 11.6 °C for the cooling box and 22.4 °C for the surface temperature of the PV panel. Based on the experimental results, the water cooling method achieves greater surface temperature reduction compared to air cooling and non-cooling method. High temperatures on the photovoltaic cell are one of the main reasons that affect the efficiency of the system.
The experimental result was validated and the results were similar to the simulation work where the water cooling method provided greater reduction in the temperature on the surface of the photovoltaic panel and the temperature inside the heat sink compared to the air cooling method.
CONCLUSION
Recommendation 54
A smaller element size can yield a larger number of elements and nodes, which can improve the accuracy and precision of the simulation. Multi-parameter analysis and optimization of a typical thermoelectric cooler based on the dimensional analysis and experimental validation. Optimal allocation of heat transfer surface for cooling load and COP optimization of a thermoelectric refrigerator.
Performance evaluation and parametric optimal design of a thermoelectric refrigerator powered by a dye-sensitive solar cell.
