Symmetric Compound Parabolic Concentrator with Indium Tin Oxide Coated Glass as Passive Cooling System for Photovoltaic Application

Abstract

One problem with concentrating photovoltaic systems is the increase in operating photovoltaic module temperature which results in power output reduction. Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) coated glasses exhibit both high transmittance in the visible region and high reflectance in the infrared region of the solar spectrum. Such materials can be used as selective windows in photovoltaic modules operating under concentrating system enabling passive cooling. In this paper, a Heat Reflector Window (HRW) consisting of a glass coated with 180 nm layer of ITO was experimentally tested. The ITO coated glass had a transmittance of about 85% in the visible region and over 80% reflectance in the infrared region of the solar spectrum and was placed at the exit aperture of a Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC). Results indicate that the temperature of a photovoltaic module under CPC with the HRW was reduced by about 50% as compared to a similar photovoltaic module with CPC but without the HRW. However, due to presence of the HRW at the exit aperture of the CPC, the photovoltaic module with the CPC and HRW received less solar irradiance compared to a similar photovoltaic module with the CPC but without HRW.