The influence of system-level design elements on convective cooling in solar farms*

When the temperature of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules rises, efficiency drops and module degradation accelerates. Thus, the PV community aims to reduce module operating temperatures. Previous studies of solar farms have illustrated that incoming flow characteristics, turbulent mixing, and array geometry can strongly impact convective cooling, as measured by the convective heat transfer coefficient h. In the fields of heat transfer and vegetated canopy flow, previous work has shown that system-level design elements – e.g., flow diverters, barriers, or windbreaks – can passively alter the flow, enhance turbulent mixing, and influence convection. However, the PV community has not yet explored how such design elements may enhance convective cooling in solar farms. Here, high-resolution large-eddy simulations model the flow and heat transfer through solar farms with system-level design elements. A control volume analysis is then performed to evaluate the net heat flux and compute h, which quantifies the influence of system-level design elements on convective cooling, and thus, module temperature and power output.