The Effect of Heat Sink Properties on Solar Cell Cooling Systems

Abstract

High energy demand is leading to the replacement of fossil energy with renewable sources such as solar energy. Solar cells are devices used to generate solar energy. However, when exposed to sunlight with high intensity, a solar cell can suffer a decrease in performance due to overheating. This issue can be addressing by adding a cooling system. This study used a passive cooling system by adding a heat sink with fins to the body panel of the solar cell. The advantage of the passive cooling system is that it does not require additional energy. The number of fins and types of material were varied to obtain the best passive cooling system. The number of fins used was 5, 10, and 15, and the materials used were aluminum and copper. The wind speed vector and the temperature distribution were investigated through simulation. The results showed an increase in the number of fins provided better cooling capacity and increased the photovoltaic performance. The best cooling capability and performance were obtained using 15 fins with a copper base and fin heat sink materials. The decrease in temperature and the increase in efficiency were 10.2 °C and 2.74%, respectively. Therefore, the use of passive cooling system based on heat sinks with fins could provide a potential solution to increase performance and prevent overheating of photovoltaic (PV) panel systems.