Award Date

8-2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Department

Mechanical Engineering

First Committee Member

Robert Boehm, Chair

Second Committee Member

Yi-Tung Chen

Third Committee Member

Suresh Sadineni

Graduate Faculty Representative

Aly Said

Number of Pages

84

Abstract

Concentrated solar radiation can be utilized to generate electrical power from photovoltaic cells, but concentrated solar radiation increases the photovoltaic cell’s temperature. This increase in temperature can lead to degradation of the cell efficiency, and too high of a temperature can damage the cell’s integrity. This is particularly important in dish and tower systems where a maximum uniform flux may be difficult to achieve. While a variety of approaches have been used to the keep the cells cool, most are based upon removal of heat from the back (opposite surface of the incident flux exposed surface) of the cell. This thesis reports on an immersion cooling technique for the cells, whereby a coolant is circulated over the front surface of the cell in addition to its other surfaces. An analysis is given where the cells are placed in a cylindrical glass tube, where a liquid is circulated. The impact of the various thermal processes that result from this approach are described herein. A comparison is made to limited experimental data.

Keywords

Concentrated solar beams; Cooling; Immersion cooling; Photovoltaic cells; Photovoltaic cells — Effect of high temperatures on; Solar concentrators

Disciplines

Heat Transfer, Combustion | Materials Science and Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Download


Share

COinS