The performance of photovoltaic (PV) panel having staggered metal foam fins was examined experimentally in Baghdad, Iraq. Three staggered metal foam fin configurations attached to the backside of the PV panel were studied. The measured parameters were front and back surfaces temperature, open voltage and current circuits, maximum power, and PV efficiency. It was noted that the maximum electrical efficiency enhancement was 4.7% for staggered metal foam fins (case III) than the reference PV panel. The operating temperature of the cell was increased when the value of solar intensity was high. Thereby, the electrical efficiency was decreased. It was found that the metal foam fins decreased the PV temperature by 2-3 oC.
The performance of a solar cell under sun radiation is necessary to describe the electrical parameters of the cell. The Prova 200 solar panel analyzer is used for the professional testing of four solar cells at Baghdad climate conditions. Voltage -current characteristics of different area solar cells operated under solar irradiation for testing their quality and determining the optimal operational parameters for maximum electrical output were obtained. A correlation is developed between solar cell efficiency h and the corresponding solar cell parameters; solar irradiance G, maximum power Pmax, and production date P. The average absolute error of the proposed correlation is 5.5% for 40 data points. The results also show th
... Show MoreThree different distribution modules of silicon solar cells in a panel are used in this study . Each module consists of five identical circular silicon solar cells of radius (5cm) and then the total panel areas are identical. The five solar cells are arranged in the panel in different shapes: circular, triangular and rectangular .The efficiency for these three panel distribution are measured indoor and outdoor. The results show that the efficiency is a function of the cells distribution.
Partial shading is one of the problems that affects the power production and the efficiency of photovoltaic module. A series of experimental work have been done of partial shading of monocrystalline PV module; 50W, Isc: 3.1A, Voc: 22V with 36 cells in series is achieved. Non-linear power output responses of the module are observed by applying various cases of partial shading (vertical and horizontal shading of solar cells in the module). Shading a single cell (corner cell) has the greatest impact on output energy. Horizontal shading or vertical shading reduced the power from 41W to 18W at constant solar radiation 1000W/m2 and steady state condition. Vertical blocking a column
... Show MoreAn experimental and numerical study has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer by natural convection in a three dimensional annulus enclosure filled with porous media (silica sand) between two inclined concentric cylinders with (and without) annular fins attached to the inner cylinder under steady state condition; The experiments were carried out for a range of modified Rayleigh number (0.2 ≤Ra*≤ 11) and extended to Ra* =500 for numerical study, annulus inclination angle of (δ = 0˚, 30˚, 60˚ and 90˚). The numerical study was to write the governing equation under an assumptions used Darcy law and Boussinesq’s approximation and then solved numerically using finite difference approximation. It was found that the averag
... Show MoreCadmium sulfide photodetector was fabricated. The CdS nano
powder has been prepared by a chemical method and deposited as a
thin film on both silicon and porous p- type silicon substrates by spin
coating technique. Structural, morphological, optical and electrical
properties of the prepared CdS nano powder are studied. The X-ray
analysis shows that the obtained powder is CdS with predominantly
hexagonal phase. The Hall measurements show that the nano powder
is n-type with carrier concentration of about (-5.4×1010) cm-3. The
response time of fabricated detector was measured by illuminating
the sample with visible radiation and its value was 5.25 msec. The
specific detectivity of the fabricated det
This study aims to evaluate the melting characteristics of a phase change material (PCM) in a latent heat storage system equipped with hemispherical and quarter-spherical fins. A vertical triple-pipe heat exchanger is used as the PCM-based heat storage unit to improve the melting performance compared with a double-pipe system. Furthermore, the fins are arranged in inline and staggered configurations to improve heat transfer performance. For the quarter-spherical fins, both upward and downward directions are examined. The results of the system equipped with novel fins are compared with those without fins. Moreover, a fin is added to the heat exchanger’s base to compensate for the natural convection effect at the bottom of the heat
... Show MoreAn experimental and numerical study was carried out to investigate the heat transfer by natural convection in a three dimensional annulus enclosure filled with porous media (silica sand) between two inclined concentric cylinders with (and without) annular fins attached to the inner cylinder under steady state condition. The experiments were carried out for a range of modified Rayleigh number (0.2 ≤Ra*≤ 11) and extended to Ra*=500 for numerical study and for annulus inclination angle of (δ = 0˚, 30˚, 60˚ and 90˚). The numerical study was to give the governing equation under assumptions that used Darcy law and Boussinesq’s approximation and then it was solved numerically using finite difference approximation. It was found that t
... Show MorePhotovoltaic (PV) devices are widely used renewable energy resources and have been increasingly manufactured by many firms and trademarks. This condition makes the selection of right product difficult and requires the development of a fast, accurate and easy setup that can be implemented to test available samples and select the cost effective, efficient, and reliable product for implementation. An automated test setup for PV panels using LabVIEW and several microcontroller-based embedded systems were designed, tested, and implemented. This PV testing system was fully automated, where the only human intervention required was the instalment of PV panel and set up of required testing conditions. The designed and implemented system was
... Show MoreHydrogen fuel is a good alternative to fossil fuels. It can be produced using a clean energy without contaminated emissions. This work is concerned with experimental study on hydrogen production via solar energy. Photovoltaic module is used to convert solar radiation to electrical energy. The electrical energy is used for electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen by using alkaline water electrolyzer with stainless steel electrodes. A MATLAB computer program is developed to solve a four-parameter-model and predict the characteristics of PV module under Baghdad climate conditions. The hydrogen production system is tested at different NaOH mass concentration of (50,100, 200, 300) gram. The maximum hydrogen produc
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