Experimental study of cooling BIPV modules by forced convection in the air channel

The efficiency of photovoltaic systems depends mainly on the cell temperature. Frequently, the PV collectors are installed on the top of the building. One cost effective method to regulate the temperature of rooftop integrated photovoltaic panels is to provide an open air channel beneath the panel. The cell temperature of these PV modules is very much influenced by the capability of ventilating this channel. The ventilation may be modified by different factors such as the wind velocity, the air gap size, and the forced convection induced by a fan or by a conventional air conditioning system. This paper describes an experimental setup to study the influence of the air gap size and the forced ventilation on the cell temperature (and consequently on the electrical efficiency of the PV module) of a BIPV configuration, for different values of the incident solar radiation, ambient temperatures, and aspect ratios, as well as for several forced ventilation conditions. Semi empirical correlations for the Ross coefficient, module temperature, electrical efficiency, and power output are proposed, showing a good agreement with respect to experimental measurements. A critical channel aspect ratio close to 0.11 can be considered to minimize overheating of PV devices. For a duct velocity Vv = 6 m/s, a power output increase of 19% is observed over the natural ventilation case (Vv = 0.5 m/s).