• THE FIRST SELF-COOLED PV MODULE IN THE WORLD
• EHP TECHNOLOGY
• GENERATED AT LEAST 12% MORE ELECTRICITY
• FIRST IN HEATING BY ELECTRICITY GENERATION

The efficiency of PV panels, which have an average efficiency of around 15%, decreases up to 8- 9% under intense radiation. The purpose of the C / PV project is to reduce the heat load sourced surface temperature by using heat pipes, which is an important problem for PVs. Thus, while the electricity production of PVs increases, the life of PV cells will also increase.

In order to make an interpretation as a result of the analysis, firstly, under the same conditions (IEC 61215), PV panels without any cooling were analyzed. All layers of a standard PV were introduced to the CFD program and IEC 61215 standard was used to determine the boundary conditions.

The purpose of the first cooler designs was to provide PV panel cooling by taking advantage of natural convection without using any fluids other than air. Unfortunately, the natural convection method has failed to cool.

With the system connected with EHP pipes fixed on the bottom surface of the PV panel, it is aimed to be cooled by water circulation. Optimum efficiency has been achieved by optimizing the number of heat pipes per PV segment.

The efficiency of PV cells, which rise to 70°C under 800W/m² irradiation at 35°C ambient temperature, decreases up to 8%. This decrease in efficiency can be prevented by cooling the PV cells up to a temperature of 43°C with EHP technology. This situation provides approximately 12% increase in total energy production and hot tap water.

Considering the temperature difference between day and night, especially in regions with desert climates, it was thought that it would be beneficial to turn the designs into a heat storage. An effective cooling is provided to a tank fixed to the panels, where the heat collected on the PV surface is transmitted and stored passively (without pumping) through heat pipes, and then discharged to the environment by making use of the temperature difference at night. With the phase change material in the PCM tank, heat storage is realized by making use of the latent heat (solid to liquid) of the material. The material in the PCM tank, which releases its stored heat to the atmosphere at night, will change phase again (liquid to solid) and become ready to absorb heat. Thus, cooling and thus total energy increase can be achieved without water circulation, especially in large-scale solar fields.