Wu, Yupeng (2009) Thermal management of concentrator photovoltaics. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Photovoltaic Concentrator systems, which increase the solar radiation intensity on the
photovoltaic cells, may reduce the system cost, if the cost of the concentrator is less than
the photovoltaic material displaced. An Asymmetric Compound Parabolic Photovoltaic
Concentrator (ACPPVC) for building façade integration with a solar concentration ratio of
2.0 has been designed, fabricated and experimentally characterised. The truncated
ACPPVC has acceptance half angles of 0° and 55° and an absorber width of 125mm. Phase
Change Materials (PCM) have been integrated to the rear of the PV panel to moderate the
temperature rise of the PV and maintain good solar-electrical conversion efficiency. The
thermal behaviour of a Fresnel lens PV Concentrator (FPVC) has also been studied in this
work.
A two-dimensional ray trace technique has been used to predict the optical performance
and the angular acceptance of the ACPPVC system. The predicted highest optical
efficiency was 88.67% for the ACPPVC-55 system. Extensive indoor experimental
characterisation of a number of PV systems was undertaken for a range of incident solar
radiation intensities using a highly collimated solar simulator developed specifically for this
project. Experimental results showed that the electrical output from the ACPPVC-55 was
approximately 1.8 of that of a non-concentrating PV system with similar solar cells area.
The electrical conversion efficiency for the ACPPVC-55 system was further increased,
when RT27 PCM was incorporated to its rear.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Photovoltaic cells -- Research, Photovoltaic power generation, Direct energy conversion -- Research, Solar energy -- Research
Official Date:	September 2009
Dates:	Date Event September 2009 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Engineering
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Eames, Philip Charles
Sponsors:	University of Warwick (UoW)
Extent:	308 leaves : ill., charts
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/3218

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