Simulation and testing of Cell Operating Temperature in structured single and double glass modules

• Published in: 2011 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference pp. 003189 - 003194
• Main Authors: Biao Li, Christian, T., Koch, M., Muller, M., Rodriguez, J., Doble, D. M. J.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-06-2011
• Subjects: Cooling; Glass; Heat transfer; Periodic structures; Surface texture; Temperature measurement; Wind speed
• ISBN: 9781424499663; 1424499666
• ISSN: 0160-8371
• DOI: 10.1109/PVSC.2011.6186618

Computational modeling has been used to simulate Nominal Cell Operating Temperature (NOCT) and cooling effects in standard and glass-glass modules with different surface structures. The results of the simulation agree well with outdoor experimental data. It has been demonstrated that surface structure has a significant cooling effect, increasingly pronounced at higher wind speed. In addition, the cooling effect in textured double glass modules is greater than that in textured single glass modules due to the increase in surface area of both front and back surfaces. An expression that predicts the temperature of glass-glass and textured glass modules relative to a single flat glass module has been evaluated. The result can be directly applied to existing NOCT models.