ISHS Acta Horticulturae 440: International Symposium on Plant Production in Closed Ecosystems
USE OF COMPUTATIONAL FLOW DYNAMICS CODE FOR MODELING THE BEHAVIOUR OF AIRBORNE DUST ON THE SURFACE OF SOLAR CELL FOR MAXIMIZING SOLAR ENERGY FOR CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT |
| Authors: | J.T. Mailutha, H. Murase, N. Honami |
| Keywords: | CFD, dust, pressure, simulation, wind, solar, turbulence |
| Abstract:
Solar energy is a very important, freely available natural resource which can be used in its natural form or converted into other useful forms. Before installation of facilities for converting solar energy into electrical energy for plant production under controlled environment, home lighting, crop irrigation or any other purpose, it is important to know the amount of solar energy available for conversion and the surrounding local environmental factors which directly or indirectly affect solar cell conversion efficiency. Wind velocity, temperature, dust and other atmospheric contaminants are some of the factors that lower the efficiency of photovoltaic solar energy generation system. Sufficient air turbulence to suspend dust particles is available in the atmosphere, and it has been observed that higher air velocities cause more inertial impaction of particles on surfaces, thus removing them from the airstream. Generally, the process of dust settlement on surfaces involves three stages, namely, the removal of dust particles from their source, transport to the new position, and final settlement on the new surface. The major factors involved in this process are the wind velocity and amount of dust particles in the atmosphere. The need to improve the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic solar energy generation system has always been the concern of researchers. This paper reports the results of simulation of a system that can reduce the dust settlement on the surface of solar panel. PHOENICS CFD code was used to simulate a system that reduces dust settlement on surface of solar cells. By creating negative pressure (suction), wind is made to blow away from the surface, thus taking away the dust and other contaminants from the surface. | |
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