2019/12/27 by George Perrakis, Anna C. Tasolamprou, Perrakis, George +9
Energy · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics #Applied Physics (physics.app-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar Thermal and Photovoltaic Systems #Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies #solar cell performance optimization
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1912.12154
openalex publication_date 2019/12/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
The radiative cooling of objects during daytime under direct sunlight has\nrecently been shown to be significantly enhanced by utilizing nanophotonic\ncoatings. Multilayer thin film stacks, 2D photonic crystals, etc. as coating\nstructures improved the thermal emission rate of a device in the infrared\natmospheric transparency window reducing considerably devices' temperature. Due\nto the increased heating in photovoltaic (PV) devices, that has significant\nadverse consequences on both their efficiency and life-time, and inspired by\nthe recent advances in daytime radiative cooling, we developed a coupled\nthermal-electrical modeling to examine the physical mechanisms on how a\nradiative cooler affects the overall efficiency of commercial photovoltaic\nmodules. Employing this modeling, which takes into account all the major\nprocesses affected by the temperature variation in a PV device, we evaluated\nthe relative impact of the main radiative cooling approaches proposed so far on\nthe PV efficiency, and we established required conditions for optimized\nradiative cooling. Moreover, we identified the validity regimes of the\ncurrently existing PV-cooling models which treat the PV coolers as simple\nthermal emitters. Finally, we assessed some realistic photonic coolers from the\nliterature, compatible with photovoltaics, to implement the radiative cooling\nrequirements, and demonstrated their associated impact on the temperature\nreduction and PV efficiency. Providing the physical mechanisms and requirements\nfor cooling radiatively solar cells, our study provides guidelines for\nutilizing suitable photonic structures as radiative coolers, enhancing the\nefficiency and the lifetime of PV devices.\n