Three Dimensional Transient Numerical Modeling of Temperature Distribution and Output Power in Photovoltaic Module

According to the effect of temperature on the output power of a photovoltaic module, this research tries to calculate the temperature distribution in a photovoltaic module by numerical solving of the energy balance equations. Therefore, its output power can be accurately predicted. For this purpose, several photovoltaic modules are modeled in detail in the COMSOL software. A new method for calculating power output as a function of the PV modules temperature is also presented to solve with thermal equations simultaneously. Different layers of PV module are considered separately in the present three dimensional and transient models. Effect of different correlations for heat convection in the temperature distribution and output power has also been studied. Results show that the above features lead to accurate prediction of temperature distribution and therefore performance of the PV module.