Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130

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Energy Conversion and Management

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Application of two-phase flow for cooling of hybrid microchannel PV cells:

A comparative study
Peyvand Valeh-e-Sheyda, Masoud Rahimi ⇑, Ebrahim Karimi, Masomeh Asadi
CFD Research Center, Chemical Engineering Department, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This paper reports the experimental data from performance of two-phase flows in a small hybrid micro-
Received 1 January 2013 channel solar cell. Using air and water as two-phase fluid, the experiments were conducted at indoor con-
Accepted 30 January 2013 dition in an array of rectangular microchannels with a hydraulic diameter of 0.667 mm. The gas
Available online 6 March 2013
superficial velocity ranges were between 0 and 3.27 m s1 while liquid flow rate was 0.04 m s1. The per-
formance analysis of the PV cell at slug and transitional slug/annular flow regimes are the focus of this
Keywords: study. The influence of two-phase working fluid on PV cell cooling was compared with single-phase. In
Hybrid solar cell
addition, the great potential of slug flow for heat removal enhancement in PV/T panel was investigated.
Microchannel
Two-phase flow
The obtained data showed the proposed hybrid system could substantially increases the output power of
Slug flow PV solar cells.
Heat transfer enhancement Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction engineering systems [18,19]. Accordingly, flow channel diameter

The photovoltaic thermal systems supply different forms of en-
ergy such as electricity and heat [1,2]. The main issue with using
solar energy is that it has not yet been made efficient enough to
be a viable source for energy [3]. As far as the efficiency solar-to-
electrical conversion decreases with increase in cell temperature,
cooling of PV cell is quite important. Furthermore, long-time high
temperature working conditions can cause irreversible degrada-
tion of PV cells [4,5]. Among various techniques, many innovative
active and passive cooling systems were proposed to enhance the
heat transfer from the PV module. Examples of these techniques
are utilizing air channels, increasing the roughness of absorber
plate and channel wall [6], providing several types of ribs in the
air channel [7,8], using longitudinal fins [9,10] besides other pro-
posed methods [11–16].
Development of micro cooling technology is a concept, which
can be suited for solving the heat removal from PV cells. The values
of various design parameters of glazed hybrid microchannel solar
cell thermal tile (MCSCT) were also analyzed in terms of an electri-
cal and thermal efficiency and the results were compared with the
result of single channel photovoltaic thermal (SCPVT) module [17].
Till now, some attempts have also been carried out to classify small
flow passages of typical thermal heat exchanger technology at
micro-scale geometry with respect to some key biological and
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Chemical Engineering Department, Razi Uni-
versity, Taghe Bostan, Kermanshah, Iran. Tel.: +98 8314274530; fax: +98
8314274542.
E-mail addresses: m.rahimi@razi.ac.ir, masoudrahimi@yahoo.com (M. Rahimi).
or hydraulic diameter of 1 mm or below is broadly classified in
the heat transfer fluid flow literatures as ‘microchannel’, ‘micro-
tube’, or ‘micro-device’ [20,21]. Some researchers [17,22] proposed
using microchannels for heat transfer from PV cells. However, the
channels with a depth of 5000 lm were utilized, which were not in
agreement on the basis of the microchannel definition. Further-
more, air or water was used as heat carrier fluid in these hybrid
cells. However, gas–liquid two-phase flow, as the working fluid
in microchannels, has not been seriously considered for this
application.
Two-phase flow were frequently used as working fluid in many
of applications, such as compact heat exchangers, microelectronic
cooling systems, nuclear reactors, chemical processing, and
small-sized refrigeration systems. In microchannels, depending
upon the properties and flow rates of the two fluids, various flow
patterns such as bubbly, slug or Taylor, churn, rivulet, wavy annu-
lar, annular flow can establish in gas–liquid flow. Slug flow (also
known as Taylor flow, Taylor bubble flow, bubble-train flow, inter-
mittent flow, plug flow etc.) is one of the most important flow
patterns and occupies a large area on the flow regime map. Char-
acteristics of Taylor flow is elongated gas bubbles that almost fill
the channel, separated by liquid slugs. A thin liquid film separates
these bubbles from the wall and connects the two successive liquid
slugs separated by the gas bubble. Moreover, in microchannels, the
surface tension is a predominant in two-phase flow characteristics
of capillaries and significantly reduces the slip velocity, and ren-
ders the flow characteristics independent of channel orientation
with respect to gravity [23]. Due to the re-circulating flow gener-
ated by the shear between fluid and the channel wall in the liquid

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.01.029
 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130 123

Nomenclature

hl height of the float (m) CNC computer numerical control

Im current at maximum power (A) DC alternating current
Kl proportionality constant atm atmosphere
Mw molecular weight W watt
PMax maximum power of photovoltaic arrays (W) PV/T photovoltaic thermal
Ql volumetric flow rate of water (ml min1)
QG volumetric flow rate of air (l min1) Greek letter
Vm voltage at maximum power (V) qair air density (kg m3)
Ul water velocity (m s1) qg gas density (kg m3)
UG air velocity (m s1) qs density of the float (kg m3)

Abbreviations
I average intensity on absorber plate (W m2)

slugs, Taylor flow improves heat and mass transfer from the liquid
to the wall [24].
Despite the existence of extensive experimental data and publi-
cations for power generation enhancement in PV cells, limited
studies were carried out to utilize microchannels for this purpose.
In the present study, rectangular microchannels were fabricated
for cooling of a PV cell. The associated heat transfer from PV solar
cell was analyzed in the Taylor and slug–annular flow regimes,
without phase change. The proposed hybrid system can substan-
tially increase the output power of PV solar cells in a solar gener-
ation system.
2. System description
2.1. Microchannel fabrication and cell module
to inlet air pressure storage tank to withstand pressures up to
1 atm.
A centrifugal pump with a capacity of 580 l h1 pumped the li-
quid into storage tank and then the test loop. Then, the pressurized
water flows towards the valves via V-6, V-7 and V-8, respectively.
The upstream pressure of the water and its temperature were sta-
bilized by PI-1 and T.E-1, accordingly, to make two-phase flow. The
two-phase flow was mixed in a T-junction region. The air–water
mixture then flows through the test section; the mixture flows into
the microchannel installed beneath the solar PV cell through two
radial holes with diameters of 4 mm. In addition, oxygen gas flow
meter was calibrated for air with a known reference flow rate,
which was obtained from micro-tube. More details for calibration
of rotameter was described in Appendix A.
Metal Halide lamps were employed as the lighting sources for
the PV cell, based on previous experience reported in literature

Details of the fabricated Plexiglas microchannel are displayed in

Fig. 1. Based on this figure, the channel consists of 65 parallel
microchannels with a length of 22 cm, a width of 1 mm and a 15 15
depth of 500 lm. The channels are fabricated 500 lm apart using
a computer numerical control (CNC) machine. As indicated in the
figure, the sharp corners of the utilized channel provide relatively
easy visual observation. To bind the Plexiglas base plate and PV cell Flow Micro channels Header
together, they were originally covered by adhesive paper. 0.5
A PV module with an active area of 15 mm by 77 mm and also a
1
non-circular microchannel with hydraulic diameter of 0.667 mm 0.5
were used as the test section to study the potential of co-current
gas–liquid two-phase flow in heat removal from PV cell. The total All Dimensions in mm
available area of PV cell for testing was also considered
(a)
26  13 cm2.
Twelve K-type thermocouples located at the top of the PV cell at
12 separate locations, measuring the entire PV surface. The loca-
tion of thermocouples is shown in Fig. 2. The average values of
temperatures were used as PV temperature to investigate the cool-
ing effect.

2.2. Experimental apparatus

A schematic view of the experimental setup is shown in Fig. 3.

The experimental rig was designed in a way to control the temper-
ature, air and water flow rates at the inlet of the test section.
According to the figure, air and water were entered into the cell
via single separate tubes. An air compressor provides the pressur-
ized air, which passes through the regulating valves, namely V-9,
V-10 and V-11. The volume flow rate of the gaseous flow was iden- (b)
tified with the aid of a flow meter. After regulation the air flow rate
at desired value, water was delivered at controlled calibrated rate Fig. 1. The scheme of microchannel layout (a) front view and (b) actual prototype.
124 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130

Flow Direction promising for heat transfer enhancement in practical applications.

Hence, among five main flow regime maps identified in literatures
13mm
[28–33], the slug flow was considered for all the test sections. This
T12
flow regime map can enhance and increase transverse heat and
10mm
31mm T8 T4
mass transfer due to recirculation in the liquid slugs and due to
the presence of the thin liquid film surrounding the gas bubbles
T11 T7 T3 [23]. As a result of using the discernible flow pattern maps [23],
31mm

the gas and liquid superficial velocities, as coordinates, were con-

T10 T6 T2 sidered in a way that the Taylor and slug–annular flow were char-
acterized for the test sections.
31mm

47mm
T9 T5 T1
13mm

2.4. Experimental procedures

75mm 75mm 47mm

2.4.1. Selection of air velocity in slug flow domains

Fig. 2. The location of thermocouples on top of the PV panel.
As mentioned in Section 2.2, enhanced heat transfer make Tay-
lor flow suitable for applications, which need improve the heat
[25,26]. The lamps were installed at a height of 20 cm from PV cell transfer. To provide a meaningful superficial liquid and gas flow
and evenly loaded on aluminum heat sink plate. The intensity of velocities, the flow pattern map observed by Triplett et al. [23]
the incoming radiation, I in W m2, was measured using a digital was digitalized, and then the optimum fitting curve was obtained
solar Pyranometer. Table 1 summarizes the major components uti- for various defined regions. Table 2 demonstrates the numerical re-
lized in the experiments. sults of Triplett et al. [23] flow regime map. Accordingly, several
velocity points were considered as the operating line in slug flow
and slug/slug–annular flow to study the behavior of PV cell in
2.3. Two-phase flow regime the present identified limit. Operating line in this study and other
details is shown in Fig. 4, which is overlaid on the flow pattern
Based on reported works [27], the Nusselt number in micro- maps observed by Triplett et al. [23]. Based on this figure, experi-
channels strongly depends on the flow pattern, and is up to ments of water and air flow were conducted in the rectangular
2.4 times higher than that of the single-phase laminar flow. This microchannel at constant liquid superficial velocity of ULS = 0.04 -
indicates that the gas–liquid slug flow without phase change is m s1 and gas superficial velocities, UGS, of 0–3.27 m s1.

Operating Power
part supply part

Heat Sink

V-4 V-5

Air Filter
C-1

V-2 PG-1

PV-1
T-2 L G-1
P-1
V-3
Ampere/Voltmeter

V-6 V-7 V-8 T.E-2

F T.E-1
I
V-9 V-10 V-11
FI -1 M P-1
PI -1

C-1: Air Compressor V-11: Shutoff Valve (Air’s Path)

V-2: Air Compressor Over Flow Valve P-1: Loading Pump
V-3: Air Compressor Outlet Valve PV-1: Photovoltaic Modules
V-4: Storage Tank Isolation Valve M P-1: Calibrated Measure Column
V-5: Storage Tank Loading Valve T.E-1: Water Inlet Temperature Element
V-6: First Water Flow Regulating Needle Valve T.E-2: Water Outlet Temperature Element
V-7: Second Water Flow Regulating Needle Valve PG-1: Pressure Gauge
V-8: Shutoff Valve (Water’s Path) PI -1: Pressure Indicator
V-9: First Air Flow Regulating Needle Valve LG-1: Storage Tank Level Gauge
V-10: Second Air Flow Regulating Needle Valve FI -1 : Rotameter Flow Indicator

Fig. 3. The schematic of the experimental test facility.

 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130 125

Table 1
Major components and technical specifications of the test apparatus.

Photovoltaic cell specifications Issue 1 Piece

Model SS-3WP ACDC, Taiwan
Dimensions 260  130  25 mm
Rate maximum power (Pmax) 3 Watt
Voltage at Pmax (Vm) 9 Volt
Current at Pmax (Im) 0.33 Ampere
Open-circuit voltage (Voc) 10.5 Volt
Short-circuit current (Isc) 0.35 Ampere
Nominal operating cell temp 45 ± 2 °C
Cell technology Poly-Si
Application class C
Output tolerance ±3%
Pump Model Techinc AP1400F Accuracy ± 5%
Type Axial flow centrifugal aquarrium recirculation pump
Range 0.1–25.0 m3/s Resolution
Max flow 580 l/h
Max head 1.3 m
Thermometer Temperature range 50.0 to 999.9 °C ± 0.5 °C Accuracy ± 0.4%
Type Lutron
Model BTM-4208SD
Pyranometer Model Tes1333R Accuracy ± 2%
Metal Halide lamp Power 400 Watt
Issue 3 Piece
Model HID-T400 W/D
Pressure gauge Model Nataly, Italy
Issue 1
Pressure range 0–150 psi
Air compressor Model Einhell, UK
Flow meter Volumetric flow rate range 1–5 l/min

2.4.2. Experimental measurements
The experimental conditions and operating ranges are summa-
rized in Table 3. The flows in both phases are expected to be in the
laminar regime. The working pressure was set at 100 kPa and was
kept constant within ±10 kPa for 90% of the data. Prior to experi-
ments, the test loop was carefully leak-tested while the highest
liquid and air flow rates were imposed on the system. After elimi-
nation of all leaks, the test loop and all the pressure taps were
flushed with water to remove all trapped air pockets.
During the experiments, the liquid arrives at the inlet of the cell
microchannel at a temperature of 22 °C and the working liquid was
not re-circulated in the experiments. According to experimental
flow conditions, constant flow rate of air between 0 and
6.39 l min1 was imposed to the test section. The properties of
the working fluids were listed in Table 4. After establishment of
steady state conditions (temperature and pressure) at upstream
of gas phase, water at constant flow rate of 92 ml min1 passed
through the microchannels.
During the tests, the PV electrical output was connected to an
electrical load. After a time interval of 20 min, while ensuring the
constancy of the flow rates, I–V measurements of the photovol-
taic–thermal module as well as module temperature were re-
corded. The values of PV output voltage at various demanded
electrical current set by the employed load system. Moreover, the
values of maximum power were extracted from these results in
each experiment. The same procedure was repeated for other gas
flow rates. An analysis of the repeatability of the measurements
was performed in order to ensure reliable and repeatable results.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Temperature distributions
Fig. 5 gives the experimental water temperatures at the outlet
side of the microchannels. All these temperatures were directly
measured. The effect of air volumetric flow rate on the variation
of outlet water temperature was also shown in this figure. It can
be seen that over the studied range of flow rates, increase in air
flow rate can increase the outlet water temperature, significantly.
This means more heat was removed from the studied PV cell. In
the case of 4.20 l min1 air flow rate, the best performance in terms
of PV cell cooling was obtained. However, for air flow rates of 5.25–
6.39 l min1, an obvious decrease in water temperature obtained,
and the air with flow rate of 6.39 l min1 produce the least cooling
effect. This decrease implies that the flow goes to the slug/annular
zone, as shown in Fig. 4. On the other hand, the single-phase water
has only an insignificant effect on PV cooling, and its values are
quite close to those of 6.39 l min1 of air. This will be further dis-
cussed in next section.
In order to evaluate the temperature stability of PV cell during
cooling process, the temperature of twelve measuring positions
of the PV cell was also recorded. Then, the average weighted tem-
perature of PV cell was calculated for twelve measuring points
along with time. The obtained results are reported in Fig. 6. The
temperature difference (DT) across the cell was considered as a
tool for data comparison in all experiments. This allows a better
analysis of PV cell temperature. According to the figure, it is well
known that under steady conditions of pressure and flow rate,
the temperature increases with time. As shown, in all cases the
temperature variation will occur at the first 8 min from starting
of radiation and it remains nearly constant for the rest 20 min.
Therefore, the data collecting including PV electrical output was
measured after 20 min from beginning of the experiments, as the
profile of PV temperature reaches to a constant value.
Comparisons of the cell temperature imply that the minimum
temperatures of PV cell relate to the low flow rates of air (less than
4.20 l min1). In this case, the temperature of the PV module will
increase about 10–13 °C. Therefore, the cooling effect can be pro-
vided more efficiently. With more increase in air flow rate, PV tem-
perature rises remarkably from 0 to 20 °C, so that for 6.39 l min1
air, DT of cell reaches to its highest value of 20 °C. Thus, it is most
126 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130

Table 2
The numerical velocities extracted from Triplet et al. [23] flow regime map.

Bubble/slug Slug/slug–annular Slug/churn Churn/annular Annular/slug–annular

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
ug (m s ) ul (m s ) ug (m s ) ul (m s ) ug (m s ) ul (m s ) ug (m s ) ul (m s ) ug (m s1) ul (m s1)
0.096 0.859 1.754 0.036 1.801 6.671 3.618 0.558 14.933 0.035
0.106 0.893 1.806 0.040 1.854 5.931 3.950 0.558 15.378 0.040
0.116 0.905 1.842 0.046 1.909 5.205 4.396 0.558 15.837 0.045
0.127 0.941 1.915 0.050 1.965 4.751 4.799 0.558 16.308 0.050
0.139 0.978 1.972 0.057 2.043 4.169 5.289 0.558 16.632 0.058
0.159 1.031 2.031 0.064 2.103 3.756 5.774 0.558 17.295 0.065
0.175 1.086 2.091 0.073 2.186 3.296 6.302 0.558 17.468 0.074
0.188 1.130 2.175 0.082 2.273 2.930 6.947 0.558 18.164 0.083
0.199 1.144 2.240 0.092 2.340 2.605 7.732 0.558 18.706 0.093
0.213 1.206 2.306 0.104 2.432 2.317 8.523 0.558 19.263 0.104
0.235 1.270 2.375 0.116 2.528 2.060 9.303 0.558 19.646 0.120
0.264 1.410 2.470 0.131 2.603 1.855 10.155 0.558 20.429 0.133
0.291 1.525 2.544 0.149 2.680 1.628 11.194 0.558 20.835 0.151
0.318 1.650 2.619 0.166 2.759 1.467 12.219 0.558 21.248 0.170
0.344 1.761 2.698 0.186 2.868 1.287 13.468 0.558 22.095 0.191
0.371 1.904 2.778 0.212 2.952 1.144 14.701 0.558 22.533 0.212
0.401 2.060 2.889 0.239 3.039 1.018 15.893 0.558 23.205 0.245
0.422 2.199 2.946 0.265 3.159 0.917 17.689 0.558 23.897 0.276
0.456 2.409 3.034 0.306 3.252 0.804 19.498 0.558 24.610 0.310
0.479 2.640 3.155 0.335 3.381 0.715 21.703 0.558 25.344 0.349
0.512 2.892 3.249 0.382 3.481 0.636 23.690 0.558 26.098 0.387
0.533 3.087 3.379 0.430 3.618 0.573 26.113 0.558 26.616 0.441
0.565 3.339 3.446 0.483 28.783 0.558 27.678 0.496
0.587 3.564 3.583 0.537 31.114 0.558 28.783 0.565
0.611 3.906 3.654 0.573 34.295 0.558
0.641 4.336 37.802 0.558
0.673 4.876 41.668 0.558
0.714 5.274 46.379 0.558
0.742 5.630 53.151 0.558
0.772 6.168 55.802 0.558

10
y = 8.2929x 3 + 0.0235x2 + 2.2275x + 0.6453
R 2 = 0.9991 y = 51.851x -3.5147
R 2 = 0.9995

1
UL(ms )
-1

y = 0.0044x3.7846
R 2 = 0.9995
0.1

y = 3E-07x 4.3035
Operating Line
R 2 = 0.9989
0.01
0.01 0.1 1 10 100
-1
UG(ms )
Bubble/Slug Slug/Slug-Annular Slug/Churn
Churn/Annular Annular/S-A Operating line
Poly. (Bubble/Slug) Power (Slug/Slug-Annular) Power (Slug/Churn)
Linear (Churn/Annular) Power (Annular/S-A)

Fig. 4. The operating line of the experiments overlaid on flow pattern map of Triplett et al. [23].

likely that there must be an optimum value for air flow rate in two- 3.2. Cell module performance
phase flow regime. In addition, for air flow rates more than
4.20 l min1, the curves reach together which suggesting that at A maximum power point tracking control method is required to
higher flow rates of air, DT keeps constant and PV cell was not ensure that the PV generation system achieves the maximum
greatly influenced by cooling effect. Note that the observed tem- power output in real time [34]. The DC power, Ppv, generated from
perature fluctuations do not represent measurement errors, but the PV arrays is calculated by:
rather is reflective of the unsteady chaotic nature of the heat trans-
Ppv ¼ Ipv V pv ð1Þ
fer process when using slug flows.
 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130 127

Table 3 in this format highlights some interesting conclusions. According to

Experimental conditions (T = 22 °C, P = 1 atm). this figure, at constant flow rate of water Q = 92 ml min1, the PV
Variable Ranges cell achieves a maximum power output of 1.61 W, which is related
Liquid flow rate, Ql (ml min ) 1
92
to 4.20 l min1 of air flow rate. As the experimental results show,
Gas mass flux, Qg (l min1) 0–6.39 the output power has decreased relatively at higher gas superficial
Liquid Reynolds number, ReL 31.45 velocities so that for 6.39 l min1 air flow rate, the output power has
Gas Reynolds number, ReG 0–6.89 reached to its minimum value of 1.34 W. For single-phase fluid, the
Liquid velocity (m s1) 0.047
profile of output power also presents a peak, which corresponds to
Gas velocity (m s1) 0–3.27
Solar intensity (W m2) 1000 1.33 W.
Table 5 summarizes the effect of air flow on temperature, heat
removal and electrical voltages (Vm) and current (Im) at maximum
Table 4 power. The heat flux was determined from the measurements of
Properties of the gas and liquid used in the experiments. flow rate and temperature rise of water over the microchannel.
According to the reported values in this table, the heat transfer
Fluid Density (kg m3) Viscosity (kg m1 s1) Surface tension (N m1)
rates in the layout with water as working fluid are much higher
Water 997 8.899  104 0.072 than those with air. This means that the gaseous phase has a neg-
Air 1.185 1.831  105
ligible contribution to heat transfer, since its thermal capacity is
<0.1% of the liquid phase. Moreover, it becomes clear that in higher
flow rates of air, the heat transfer rate in air will increase, so that
the maximum heat transfer corresponds to the air flow of
39 4.20 l min1. As the volumetric flow rate of air approaches to
5.25 l min1, the heat transfer characteristics decline in liquid
37 phase, due to the change in two-phase flow regime from slug to
slug/annular flow (see also Fig. 4). Concerning the heat transfer,
one can conclude that there is a possibility to control the flow pat-
35
Tmperature (˚C)

tern so as to achieve favorable heat transfer rate. In addition,

According to experimental values for maximum voltage (Vm) and
33
current (Im), the output current of the solar cell decreases inversely
proportional to the voltage.
31 Single Phase, No Air
Air Rate 1.05 l min-¹ 3.3. A comparative study
29 Air Rate 2.10 l min-¹
Air Rate 3.15 l min-¹
Up to this stage, the experimental data has been presented for
Air Rate 4.20 l min-¹
27
Air Rate 5.25 l min-¹
two-phase slug flow regime as coolant of PV cell, but in order to
Air Rate 6.39 l min-¹ gain a comprehensive understanding of the flow effect on heat
25 transfer from PV cell, the data should be compared with experi-
0:00:00 0:07:12 0:14:24 0:21:36 0:28:48 mental results of reference cell and also single phase-flow. In this
Time (h : min : sec) regard, a criterion was arranged for adjustment as follows:
Fig. 5. Variation of discharge water temperature under various air flow rate.
% increase in output power ¼ ðP2  P1 Þ=P1 ð2Þ

Based on Eq. (1), the power-voltage curves of PV cell at various air where P2 is the electric power produced at two-phase flow for var-
flow rates and constant water flow rate of 92 ml min1, under con- ious air flow rates and P1 is the output power of reference cell and/
stant irradiation intensity are presented in Fig. 7. Reporting the data or the output power in single-liquid phase, respectively.

20.00
Temperature Difference (˚C)
.

15.00

10.00
Single Phase, No Air
Air Flow Rate 1.05 l min-¹
Air Flow Rate 2.10 l min-¹
5.00 Air Flow Rate 3.15 l min-¹
Air Flow Rate 4.20 l min-¹
Air Flow Rate 5.25 l min-¹
Air Flow Rate 6.39 l min-¹
0.00
0:00:00 0:04:19 0:08:38 0:12:58 0:17:17 0:21:36 0:25:55 0:30:14
Time (h : min : sec)

Fig. 6. Effect of air flow rate on PV panel temperature during cooling process at constant water flow rate of 92 ml min1.
128 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130

1.8
Single Phase, No Air
Air Rate 1.05 l min-¹
1.6
Air Rate 2.10 l min-¹
Air Rate 3.15 l min-¹
1.4
Air Rate 4.20 l min-¹
Air Rate 5.25 l min-¹
Output PV power (W)
1.2
.
Air Rate 6.39 l min-¹

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Voltage (V)

Fig. 7. The power-voltage curves of the PV panel for various air flow rates at constant water flow rate of 92 ml min1.

Table 5
I–V characteristic and heat removal of PV cell under different flow rates.

Water flow (ml min1) Air flow (l min1) Inlet pressure (mbar) Tc,ave (°C) QRemoved by water (W) QRemoved by air (W) Im (A) Vm (V)
92 0.00 35 48.76 43.79 0.00 0.18 7.4
92 1.05 65 47.5 44.34 0.15 0.21 6.5
92 2.10 73 49.9 47.17 0.31 0.22 6.2
92 3.15 86 49.7 50.09 0.48 0.23 6.2
88 4.20 158 52.0 52.08 0.68 0.23 7.0
88 5.25 188 49.5 46.01 0.75 0.22 7.0
90 6.39 243 45.8 46.91 0.88 0.21 6.4

45.00 1.7
1.6
Increased in PV cell output power (%)

40.00 1.5
1.4
Maximum power (W) .

35.00 1.3
1.2
30.00 1.1
1
25.00 0.9
0.8
20.00
0.7
15.00 0.6
0.5
10.00 0.4
0.3
5.00 0.2
0.1
0.00 0
0 1.05 2.10 3.15 4.20 5.25 6.39
Volumetric flow rate of air ( l min-1)
Compared with single phase Compared with reference cell
Output power in two-phase fluid flow

Fig. 8. Enhancement of PV cell Power in two-phase flow relative to single-phase flow and reference cell.

A visual presentation of the percentage increase in PV cell out- maximum value corresponds to generated power of 1.61 W. It also
put power is plotted in Fig. 8 under various air flow rates. Gener- demonstrates that as air flow rate and/or air velocity increases in
ally, the analysis of the column bar chart reveals that the microchannel, the output power of PV cell rise to its maximum
implementation of two-phase fluid microchannel in PV cells can value. At higher velocities, the output power declines under the
produce remarkable amounts of electrical energy, compared with experimental condition and increases in air flow rate more than
single-phase. In the studied range of 0–6.39 l min1 of air flow rate, 4.20 l min1 in microchannel, lead to the reduction of the PV cell
it is noticed that there is a trend in going from low to high values of output power. This value corresponds to the air velocity of
output power from 0 to about 38%. As the figure illustrates, this 2.69 m s1. The underlying mechanism that governs this behavior
 P. Valeh-e-Sheyda et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 69 (2013) 122–130 129

Table 6
Maximum power comparison of PV cell in single phase and two-phase flow.

Single-phase flow Two-phase flow

1
Water flow rate (ml min ) Maximum power (W) Water flow rate (ml min1) Air flow rate (l min1) Maximum power (W)
0.0 1.16 92 0.00 1.33
76 1.29 92 1.05 1.36
92 1.33 92 2.10 1.39
120 1.35 92 3.15 1.42
140 1.42 88 4.20 1.61
180 1.45 88 5.25 1.54
198 1.51 90 6.39 1.34

Table A.1. was about 38%. The analysis of the photovoltaic–thermal system
The results of calibrated flow rate for gas rotameter. indicates that the concept of gas–liquid slug flow in a microchan-
Calibrated flow rate (l min1) 0 1 2 3 4 5 nel enable a new strategy in cooling process of PV cells.
Corrected flow rate (l min1) 0 1.050 2.10 3.15 4.20 5.25

Appendix A. Correction factor of rotameter

is according to Fig. 4, more increase in air velocity lead to develop-
ment of slug/annular flows. However, the distinction between the The rotameters used to measure gases flow rates, are usually
various intermittent flows is not clearly exact. calibrated for air at standard condition (atmospheric temperatures
It is also worth noting that based on Oliver and Wright [35], two at room temperatures). Therefore, for air at any other pressures
distinctly different mechanisms could account for increased heat and temperatures and/or for other gases at standard conditions
transfer rates within slug flow regime compared to single-phase or the other conditions, the volumetric flow rate evaluated from
convection. Enhancement in velocity of the liquid phase due to the calibration curve or the rate at full scale must be corrected.
the addition of a segmenting gaseous phase and an internal circu- The volumetric flow rate of air at standard conditions (Tstand, Pstand)
lation within liquid slugs, which was recently measured by King when the float is at hl height, can be evaluated using Eq. (A.1).
et al. [36] are these mechanisms. qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Table 6 compares the generated maximum power of the solar Q air;calibration ¼ K qs  qair =qair hl ðA:1Þ
cell for five various flow rates in single-phase flow and slug two-
phase flow. As shown in the table, by increasing the liquid flow rates For air and gases in general, the gas density would be neglected
in single-phase flow, a remarkable increase in the electrical power is compared to the float density, i.e.
observed. It is noticed that the maximum power is increased about qs  qair ¼ qs ðA:2Þ
11.63% by introducing 76 ml min1 water inside the microchannels.
By further increasing the water flow rate from 76, 120 to Therefore, the Eq. (A.1) becomes
198 ml min1, the maximum power increases ranges between qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1.296, 1.350 and 1.518 W. This is corresponds to 11.63%, 16.28%
Q air;calibration ¼ qs =qair hl ðA:3Þ
and 30.75% increase in maximum power of cell performance. This
Suppose the same rotameter is employed to measure the flow rate
power enhancement is due to the fact that the efficiency of solar cell
of another gas and/or at different conditions of pressure and tem-
increases on account of solar cell temperature decreases.
perature (T, P). In this case, the actual volumetric flow rate is
From this comparison, it is apparent that in all cases in single- qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
phase flow, increasing the liquid flow rate will result in increasing Q g;actual ¼ qs =qg hl ðA:4Þ
in output power. For two-phase slug flow, the generated output
power in PV cell refers to the understanding of multiphase flow Dividing Eqs. (A.3) and (A.4) yield,
behavior in the limits of flow regimes. This may be interprets as qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
at higher air flow rate in two-phase flow, the slug velocities should Q g;actual ¼ qg =qair Q air ðA:5Þ
therefore be treated with caution since there is an optimum value
for maximum generated power. Assuming ideal gas
PMw;g
4. Conclusions qg ¼ ðA:6Þ
RT

In this study, an attempt has been made to evaluate the appli- PStandard M w;air
cation of gas–liquid two-phase flow for cooling of hybrid micro-
qair ¼ ðA:7Þ
RT Standard
channel PV cell. By analysis of heat transfer rates values it was
sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
found that, the performance of PV cell was highly related with PT Standard M w;g
the slug flow pattern. This outcome is of great importance since Q g;actual ¼ Q ðA:8Þ
PStandard TMw;air air
it demonstrates that the implementation of slug two-phase flows
for hybrid microchannel PV cells has remarkable effect. According Based on the mentioned correlation for calibration of employe rota-
to the experiments, increase in the air flow rate more than meter, the outcomes of the calculations are presented in Table A.1.
4.20 l min1 in microchannel lead to the reduction of the PV cell
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