Photovoltaic module efficiency evaluation: The case of Iraq

Moustafa Al-Damook, Kaleid Waleed Abid, Asim Mumtaz, Darron Dixon-Hardy, Peter J. Heggs, Mansour Al Qubeissi

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    10 Citations (Scopus)
    219 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This study aims to evaluate the performance of a photovoltaic module under some extreme climate conditions, and with a case study for Iraq. CFD model is developed for the analysis of the photovoltaic module using the commercial CFD software of COMSOL Multiphysics v5.3a for the transient conditions. The results are verified with the analytical solution to the one-dimensional non-linear energy balance equation using Matlab. The results are also compared with measurements reported in the literature for validation. The results reveal that the free convection currents in inclined and horizontal positions of the module were weaker relative to the vertical position. Also, the increase in the length of inclined photovoltaic module, up to 1.3 m, enhances the heat transfer rate. However, beyond this length, the temperature of the module becomes higher, and the convective heat transfer coefficients are reduced regardless of the inclination. In the horizontal position, the convective heat transfer rate is lower, particularly on the bottom surface of PV system.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)6151-6168
    Number of pages18
    JournalAlexandria Engineering Journal
    Volume61
    Issue number8
    Early online date8 Dec 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Aug 2022

    Funder

    European Commission - 2020-1-UK01-KA107-078517, KA107

    Funding

    This work is funded by the Renewable Energy Research Centre, University of Anbar and the Higher Committee for Education Development (HCED), Iraq (M.A-D.), and the British Council – EU Commission joint E + KA107 funding (Grant Ref. 2020-1-UK01-KA107-078517) (M.AQ.).

    FundersFunder number
    University of Anbar
    European CommissionKA107, 2020-1-UK01-KA107-078517
    Higher Committee for Educational Development
    British Council

    Keywords

    • Photovoltaic
    • Photovoltaic (PV) energy
    • PV/T
    • Conjugate Heat transfer
    • Heat Transfer
    • Thermal management
    • Solar cell
    • Solar Energy
    • Solar photovoltaic cell
    • Solar thermal collector
    • CFD (computational fluid dynamics)
    • CFD
    • CFD model
    • Experimental evaluation

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
    • Mechanical Engineering

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