Performance analysis of water cooled concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system

Abstract

The concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system focuses solar radiation on the solar cells. CPV systems need to track the sun for keeping the reflected radiation focussed on the solar cell. A CPV module and its active water-cooling system are developed at the School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, China and its performance has been reported here. This developed system has been used for testing the PV module's performance for different parameters such as operating temperature, power output, and efficiency. The experimental results show that the operating temperature of the CPV module under water cooling is reduced under 60°C and therefore the efficiency of the CPV has increased and produced the more electric power output. The effect of water flow rate has been analyzed for the CPV efficiency and output. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.