Flow field and heat transfer characteristics in a model solar PV farm*

Large scale solar farms supply an increasing amount of the world's electricity supply. However, high operation temperatures can strongly reduce efficiency and panel lifetime, negatively affecting the levelized cost of energy. In this work, the convective heat transfer coefficient for a utility-scale solar farm is studied using thermal and particle image velocimetry measurements in a scaled wind tunnel experiment. The results confirm the applicability of the scaled experimental setup to studies of large solar arrays. Further, the velocity measurements indicate the complex flow structure within the solar array, governed by wakes directed upwards due to the orientation of the solar panels.