Numerical Analyses of High Concentrator Triple-Junction Solar Cell under Jet Impingement Cooling

The triple junction III-V(TJ) solar cells are commonly used for the high concentrator photovoltaic (HCPV) arrangements as they have high efficiency and have a good response to high concentration. Nevertheless, the efficiency of solar cells decreases with an increase of temperature especially under high solar irradiance concentration ratios where the temperature of solar cells reaches to very high levels. Consequently, heat dissipation by cooling is crucial for a concentrator photovoltaic solar cell at high concentration. Moreover, significant temperature difference possibly will exist within the cell body, so it is vital to identify the presence of thermal stresses that can cause failure and deformation of the cell body. This work investigated the capability of impinging jet cooling technique to maintain a triple junction solar cell temperature under recommended operating conditions. Furthermore, thermal stress analyses were performed. The results showed that employing jet impingements cooling improved both of thermal energy and electrical generation. In addition, the thermal stress is considerably decreased with increasing the cooling inlet mass flow rate. Copyright (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CUE2018-Applied Energy Symposium and Forum 2018: Low carbon cities and urban energy systems.