Flow field and heat transfer characteristics in a model solar PV farm

ORAL

Abstract

Large scale solar farms supply an increasing amount of the world's electricity supply. However, high operation temperatures can strongly reduce efficiency and panel lifetime, negatively affecting the levelized cost of energy. In this work, the convective heat transfer coefficient for a utility-scale solar farm is studied using thermal and particle image velocimetry measurements in a scaled wind tunnel experiment. The results confirm the applicability of the scaled experimental setup to studies of large solar arrays. Further, the velocity measurements indicate the complex flow structure within the solar array, governed by wakes directed upwards due to the orientation of the solar panels.

*This work is funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) PVRD2 program under award number DE-EE0008168.

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Authors

  • James McNeal

    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,

  • Andrew Glick

    • Portland State University
    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,

  • Naseem Ali

    • Portland State University
    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,

  • Juliaan Bossuyt

    • Portland State University
    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,

  • Gerald Recktenwald

    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,

  • Marc Calaf

    • University of Utah
    • The University of Utah, Department of Mechanical Engineering

  • Raul Cal

    • Portland State University
    • Portland State University, Maseeh College Of Engineering,