A JET IMPINGEMENT/CHANNEL RECEIVER FOR COOLING DENSELY PACKED PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS UNDER A PARABOLOIDAL DISH SOLAR CONCENTRATOR

A new hybrid cooling scheme is proposed for cooling densely packed photovoltaic cells under a paraboloidal dish concentrator. The scheme integrates the cooling effects of a microchannel flow and jet impingement. A numerical model has been developed and experiment was conducted to verify the computational approach. The simulation results are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Further numerical predictions were then performed, and the key parameters have been identified over a range of coolant flow rates. These include heat efficiency, average temperature, and temperature difference over the radiance receiver plate. It is also shown that the new cooling scheme has the desirable working performance and is of good application potential for the cooling of photovoltaic cells exposed to a high heat flux.