CFD Investigation of Pin-Finned Cooling Techniques for Solar PV Modules

Abstract

This 3D numerical investigation focuses on enhancing photovoltaic performance through active cooling using pin-finned heat sinks. A numerical model was developed in ANSYS Fluent 2024 to analyze different pin-fin configurations and their effect on panel temperature reduction. The investigation considered variations in varying Re along with FS by keeping the pin fin height (50mm) as constant to optimize thermal performance. The computational domain was supplied with a constant heat flux of 500W/m^2 to observe the temp drop for the PV cell. Simulation results show that incorporating pin fins improved heat dissipation compared to a plain baseplate, leading to a reduction in the average PV cell temperature and an increase in performance. The optimized configuration achieved notable temperature drops while maintaining a compact and practical design. The results showed that the Nu is increasing with the Re and the maximum PI is found to be achieved at FS = 20mm for Re = 6000.