Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management

Slauch, Ian M.; Deceglie, Michael G.; Silverman, Timothy J.; Ferry, Vivian E.

doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586

Title: Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management

Abstract

Waste heat generated during daytime operation of a solar module will raise its temperature and reduce cell efficiency. In addition to thermalization and carrier recombination, one major source of excess heat in modules is the parasitic absorption of light with sub-bandgap energy. Parasitic absorption can be prevented if sub-bandgap radiation is reflected away from the module. We report on the design considerations and projected changes to module energy yield for photonic reflectors capable of reflecting a portion of sub-bandgap radiation while maintaining or improving transmission of light with energy greater than the semiconductor bandgap. Using a previously developed, self-consistent opto-electro-thermal finite-element simulation, we calculate the total additional energy generated by a module, including various photonic reflectors, and decompose these benefits into thermal and optical effects. We show that the greatest total energy yield improvement comes from photonic mirrors designed for the outside of the glass, but that mirrors placed between the glass and the encapsulant can have significant thermal benefit. We then show that optimal photonic mirror design requires consideration of all angles of incidence, despite unequal amounts of radiation arriving at each angle. We find that optimized photonic mirrors will be omnidirectional in the sense that they have beneficialmore »« less

Authors:

Slauch, Ian M. ^[1]; Deceglie, Michael G. ^[2]; Silverman, Timothy J. ^[2];

^[1]

Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: Fri Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2018

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1429288

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5J00-70731
Journal ID: ISSN 2330-4022

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: ACS Photonics

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 5; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2330-4022

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 42 ENGINEERING; cooling; omnidirectional light transmission and reflection; photonic structures; photovoltaic modules; solar cells; solar energy

Citation Formats


                    Slauch, Ian M., Deceglie, Michael G., Silverman, Timothy J., and Ferry, Vivian E. Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management.  United States: N. p., 2018. 
Web.  doi:10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586.

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                    Slauch, Ian M., Deceglie, Michael G., Silverman, Timothy J., & Ferry, Vivian E. Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586

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                    Slauch, Ian M., Deceglie, Michael G., Silverman, Timothy J., and Ferry, Vivian E. Fri .  
"Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1429288.

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@article{osti_1429288,

  title        = {Spectrally Selective Mirrors with Combined Optical and Thermal Benefit for Photovoltaic Module Thermal Management},

  author       = {Slauch, Ian M. and Deceglie, Michael G. and Silverman, Timothy J. and Ferry, Vivian E.},

  abstractNote = {Waste heat generated during daytime operation of a solar module will raise its temperature and reduce cell efficiency. In addition to thermalization and carrier recombination, one major source of excess heat in modules is the parasitic absorption of light with sub-bandgap energy. Parasitic absorption can be prevented if sub-bandgap radiation is reflected away from the module. We report on the design considerations and projected changes to module energy yield for photonic reflectors capable of reflecting a portion of sub-bandgap radiation while maintaining or improving transmission of light with energy greater than the semiconductor bandgap. Using a previously developed, self-consistent opto-electro-thermal finite-element simulation, we calculate the total additional energy generated by a module, including various photonic reflectors, and decompose these benefits into thermal and optical effects. We show that the greatest total energy yield improvement comes from photonic mirrors designed for the outside of the glass, but that mirrors placed between the glass and the encapsulant can have significant thermal benefit. We then show that optimal photonic mirror design requires consideration of all angles of incidence, despite unequal amounts of radiation arriving at each angle. We find that optimized photonic mirrors will be omnidirectional in the sense that they have beneficial performance, regardless of the angle of incidence of radiation. By fulfilling these criteria, photonic mirrors can be used at different geographic locations or different tilt angles than their original optimization conditions with only marginal changes in performance. We show designs that improve energy output in Golden, Colorado by 3.7% over a full year. This work demonstrates the importance of considering real-world irradiance and weather conditions when designing optical structures for solar applications.},

  doi          = {10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586},

  journal      = {ACS Photonics},

  number       = 4,

  volume       = 5,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Fri Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2018},

  month        = {Fri Mar 02 00:00:00 EST 2018}

}

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https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b01586

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Cited by: 27 works

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Figures / Tables:

Figure 1: Design of the solar module integrated photonic mirrors accounts for both diffuse components of solar radiation (left) and the interface where the photonic mirror is present (middle) with the goal of reflecting sub-bandgap light while transmitting shorter-wavelength light. Simulations account for module properties including cell surface texture andmore »

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