PhD Student: Mr. Abdulrahman Aldossary
Supervisors: Dr. Raya AL-Dadah & Dr. Saad Mahmoud
Duration: 2012-2016
Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power has been one of the fastest growing renewable energy technologies and it is anticipated that this technology will play a major role in the future of global electricity generation. The main challenge of using PV is the high initial cost when compared to electricity generated from conventional sources. In order to increase the efficiency of solar power generation and make it more cost effective, different methods have been considered and several approaches have been introduced and investigated. One approach for cost reduction in solar power generation is using mirrors, reflectors or lenses to concentrate the incoming solar irradiation on the PV. Multi-junction (MJ) solar cells are recently favoured over single junction cells to be integrated in high concentrator PV (HCPV) systems as they are more efficient, have a better response to high concentration, and lower temperature coefficient. The new technology, III-V generation MJ solar cells, offer high efficiencies exceeding (43%) at high concentration compared to traditional solar cells made of a single layer of semiconductor material. However, high concentration will cause high and non-uniform PV cell surface temperature which reduces the efficiency and power output from the cell and ultimately degrades its life.
Therefore, effective cooling is necessary to dissipate the heat load on the solar cell surface and maintain the peak performance in all conditions. Moreover, thermal energy carried by the coolant can be utilized in different thermal application such as water desalination and air conditioning; this concept is called HCPV/Thermal. In this project optical, electrical and thermal modelling is undertaken to predict the performance of the HCPV/T under different solar irradiation and ambient conditions especially in harsh environment like Saudi Arabia where ambient temperature can reach up to 50oC in summertime.