Advanced liquid cooling in HCPVT systems to achieve higher energy efficiencies

S. Zimmermann, H. Helmers, M. K. Tiwari, W. Escher, S. Paredes, P. Neves, D. Poulikakos, M. Wiesenfarth, A.

W. Bett, and B. Michel

Citation: AIP Conference Proceedings 1556, 248 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4822242

View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4822242
View Table of Contents: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/proceeding/aipcp/1556?ver=pdfcov
Published by the AIP Publishing

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 Advanced Liquid Cooling In HCPVT Systems To Achieve
Higher Energy Efficiencies
S. Zimmermann1,2, H. Helmers3, M.K. Tiwari2, W. Escher1, S. Paredes1,
P. Neves2, D. Poulikakos2, M. Wiesenfarth3, A.W. Bett3, and B. Michel1
1
IBM Research Zurich, Science and Technology, Rueschlikon, Switzerland
2
ETH Zurich, Laboratory of Thermodynamics in Emerging Technologies, Zurich, Switzerland
3
Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Freiburg, Germany

Abstract: The benefits of advanced thermal packaging are demonstrated through a receiver package consisting of a
monolithic interconnected module (MIM) which is directly attached to a high performance microchannel heat sink.
Those packages can be applied in high-concentration photovoltaic systems and the generated heat can be used in
addition to the electrical power output (CPVT systems). Thus, the total energy efficiency of the system increases
significantly. A detailed exergy analysis of the receiver power output underscores the advantages of the new cooling
approach.
Keywords: Concentrator, CPVT, dense array, Energy efficiency, Exergy, HCPVT, MIM, Water,
PACS: 88.05.Lg, 88.05.Bc, 88.05.Lg, 88.40.hj, 88.40.jm

INTRODUCTION of the coolant flow rate, the operating temperature of

The energy demand of the world continues to rise
due to ever increasing global population and
industrialization. High concentration photovoltaic
systems (HCPV) are a promising technology for
renewable power generation. In HCPV point focus
dish concentrator systems, a special design for the
solar cell module and an active cooling of the receiver
are necessary in order to handle intense irradiances of
500 kWm-2 and more, corresponding to sunlight
concentration ratios above 500. In central receiver
CPV systems, a dense array of photovoltaic cells is
important, because the receiver area spent for
interconnects is lost for solar power generation. Hence,
the module efficiency can be maximized due to
minimization of the interconnection area between
adjacent photovoltaic cells. By using monolithic
interconnected modules (MIMs) a very small
interconnection area and, consequently, a high packing
factor can be achieved [1,2].
The thermal management of HCPV systems has
become a crucial factor to further increase power
generation. Despite high photovoltaic conversion
efficiencies, more than 70% of the irradiance is
reflected or dissipated as heat. The use of an actively
liquid cooled receiver allows the additional utilization
of the generated thermal energy as process heat as well
as in polygeneration approaches, such as adsorption
cooling or thermal seawater desalination [6]. The goal
of such a CPVT system is the cogeneration of both
electricity and thermal energy output. Due to control
the PV cells can be controlled and optimized for
overall system performance. Similar approaches for
reuse of waste heat have been demonstrated in
supercomputers [3], in particular in the large number
of systems that are combined in datacenters [4]. The
computer industry has driven the development of
packaging and cooling solutions for high power
density for processor chips. These packages are very
similar to packages that can be used in actively cooled
CPV systems. To achieve increased outlet
temperatures of the coolant while keeping the solar
cell temperature in a moderate range, a low thermal
resistance between the solar cell and the coolant is
necessary. This can be achieved by minimizing the
number of interfaces between the solar cell and cooler
using integrated microchannel liquid cooling [5].
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
An actively cooled, dense array receiver for CPVT
application was manufactured. It is based on a single-
junction GaAs MIM solar cell with a total area of
4.33 cm². The MIM consists of 23 solar cell segments,
which are series-connected during cell fabrication
process. In that way the active area is divided into
several series-connected segments that lead the MIM
to be a high voltage and low current device. Because
of the low currents, power losses due to series
resistance can be kept small. Each segment of the
MIM is protected by a bypass diode which is
monolithically integrated into the semiconductor

9th International Conference on Concentrator Photovoltaic Systems

AIP Conf. Proc. 1556, 248-251 (2013); doi: 10.1063/1.4822242
© 2013 AIP Publishing LLC 978-0-7354-1182-1/$30.00

248
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 structure [1]. The MIM cell was bonded to a manifold
microchannel heat sink, which is based on the
backside heat removal solutions [7]. The microchannel
heat sink consists of a manifold layer that feeds a heat
transfer structure of hundreds of parallel microchannel.
The liquid enters the manifold system laterally and
branches into the tapered inlet channels. Through the
slit nozzles, located at the bottom surface of the
manifold inlet channel, the liquid reaches the
underlying microchannels. While the liquid travels
along the microchannels, which are orthogonally
orientated with respect to the manifold, it removes the
heat from the receiver. Then the liquid leaves the
microchannel structure upwards through the
neighboring slit nozzles and merges in the outlet
manifold channel. There the liquid is guided to a
lateral outlet. Four resistance temperature detectors
(RTD) were placed between the photovoltaic cell and
the heat sink to estimate the MIM cell temperature and
to evaluate the thermal resistance of the package
consisting of MIM cell and heat sink.
Figure 1 shows a scheme of the measurement set-up.
The receiver was mounted on an outdoor active-
tracking system. The sunlight was concentrated on the
receiver with a parabolic dish concentrator by a
concentration ratio of approximately 500. A flux
homogenizer was installed before the photovoltaic cell
FIGURE 1. Scheme of the outdoor HCPVT setup.
to smooth out irregularities and create a more uniform
flux profile. The receiver was connected to a fluid loop
similar to the one used for characterization of heat
sinks. The flow was driven by a magnetic gear pump.
A coriolis flow meter determined the volumetric flow
rate with an error of ±10 ml/min. Two cross calibrated
T-type thermocouples measured the fluid inlet and
outlet temperatures of the heat sink (error ±0.1 K).
Another thermocouple was used to measure the
ambient temperature. A heat exchanger connected to a
chiller was used to control the fluid inlet temperature.
A 7 m pore filter (Swagelok, USA) was used to keep
the coolant free of large particles and prevent a
clogging of the microchannels in the heat sink. The
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direct normal irradiance (DNI) was measured by a
pyrheliometer mounted on the solar tracker while the
global horizontal irradiance was recorded by a
pyranometer on the roof. A programmable DC
electronic load was used to measure the I-V
characteristics of the receiver. The data acquisition
was performed by a digital multimeter and a relay
switching card. LabVIEW was used to operate the
system and to record the data.
MEASUREMENTS
Indoor
The electrical performance of the receiver package
was measured indoors at a flash sun simulator under
homogeneous illumination. Figure 2 shows the I-V
curves under different concentration ratios. The
corresponding electrical efficiency values are given in
the legend. At a concentration ratio of 489 the
electrical efficiency is 20.0%.
FIGURE 2. I-V curves of the receiver measured indoors at
the flash sun simulator at Fraunhofer ISE under different
concentration ratio C.
Outdoor
Knowledge of the exact irradiance across the
photovoltaic receiver is crucial to determine the energy
efficiency. It is given by the product of the DNI and
the concentration ratio. The first is measured directly.
The second may vary based on imperfections of the
parabolic dish such as misalignment, shape deviations,
imperfect curvature or scratches. Before the receiver
was tested in the set-up, the irradiance distribution in
the receiver plane was measured using a solar flux
sensor with a circular active area of 12 mm² and a 3D
stage. The 3D stage was used to move the flux sensor
in order to create a grid of data points. The grid points
were spaced at intervals of 5 mm in width and height,
in between linear interpolation was performed. The
 concentration field was measured for the 35 mm × 35
mm opening of the outdoor tracking set-up. Despite
the use of a square homogenizer variations in
concentration from 200 to 550 were observed with two
hotspots towards the middle and zones with low
concentration to the right and the left. The receiver is
located in the center of the measured concentration
field. There, the variation is considerably lower and
ranges from 400 to 550 suns.
Figure 3 shows the measured I-V curves of the
receiver during testing. The plot illustrates the effect of
inhomogeneous illumination on the performance of the
MIM cell. Because the individual segments of the
MIM are illuminated with varying irradiance, the
measured I-V curves show characteristic kinks. Each
is related to a further current limitation of the series-
connected module. The open circuit voltage is given
by the superposition of the open circuit voltages of the
individual segments.
FIGURE 3. I-V curves of the receiver for a coolant inlet
temperature of 35ȗC.
The kinks in the I-V curve affect the maximal
available electrical power Pmpp. Pmpp is used to
sensitivity under concentration were reported by
Helmers et al. [8].
The thermal efficiency decreases with increasing
temperature, because of increasing thermal losses to
the environment. The temperature drop is 0.1 %K-1.
The comparison of the two cases illustrates the
significant increase in energy efficiency for the
combined case. An increase of four times was
measured for this specific set-up.
FIGURE 4. Overall efficiency of the receiver as a function
of the coolant inlet (CI) temperature
EXERGY ANALYSIS
To evaluate the usefulness of the thermal energy
that is extracted from the receiver, an exergy analysis
is performed. Exergy is a thermodynamic property,
defined as the maximum useful work that is contained
in an energy amount. Electrical energy generated by
the photovoltaic cell is considered pure exergy,
whereas the exergy content of the thermal energy at
the outlet of the heat sink is defined as the stream
exergy within the coolant [9]:
determine the maximal electric efficiency of the
receiver as follows:
Pmpp
Kel
C ˜ DNI ˜ A
where A = 4.33 cm² is the receiver area and C denotes
the corresponding average concentration ratio.
Figure 4 shows the energy efficiency curves for the
case where only electrical power is considered and the
Exout houtt  ho  To  sout  so º¼
m ª¬ªh (2)
where h and s denote the specific enthalpy and entropy
of the coolant and subscripts ‘out’ and ‘0’ denote the
(1)
outlet and reference ambient conditions, respectively.
The exergy at the inlet of the microchannel heat sink is
defined accordingly. The exergetic content of the
thermal energy Exth is given as the exergy gain of the
coolant defined as
combined case of electrical and thermal power
generation.
The increased cell temperature results in a minor drop
of 0.02 %K-1 of the electric efficiency within the
investigated temperature range. The observed effect is
within the measurement error due to additional sources
for uncertainties such as the stepwise motion of the
tracker and the fast changing weather conditions.
However, similar tendencies of reduced temperature
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Exth m ª¬ªhout  hin  To  sout  sin º¼
hout (3)
All these exergy terms are highly temperature
dependent, thereby underscoring the main benefit of
high temperature operation. In hybrid operation, where
the thermal power is considered through the exergy
gain of the coolant, the total exergy output is increased
by 55% when increasing the coolant inlet temperature
from 25 °C to 70 °C.
 We can introduce the following exergy-based, second
law efficiency for the heat sink to point out the
importance of the different exergy inputs and outputs
Exth  Exel
K (4)
2nd ExSol  Pppump
where Exel denotes the electric power generated by the
photovoltaic cell. Ppump denotes the pumping power
needed to drive the coolant through the microchannel
heat sink. Pumping power is negligible compared to
the other terms. ExSol describes the exergy imparted
by the solar irradiation which can be calculated
following the Petela [10] expression as:
ª 4º
« 4 § To · 1 § To · »
ExSol DNI ˜ A 1  ¨ ¸ ¨ ¸ (5)
« 3 © Tsun ¹ 3 © Tsun ¹ »
¬ ¼
where Tsun is the temperature of the sun (6000 K) and
To the ambient temperature (293 K). The Petela
expression, which is widely used to calculate the
exergy of solar radiation, acts as an optical efficiency
for the conversion of radiation into work. In Figure 5
the second law efficiency is plotted as a function of
the coolant inlet temperature. The exergy efficiency
FIGURE 5. Exergy efficiency of the receiver as a function
of the coolant inlet temperature.
increases up to 60% with increasing the water inlet
temperature from 25 to 70 °C because of the
temperature dependence of the stream exergies. From
this behavior, it is clear that in order to maximize the
exergy efficiency, the water inlet temperature should
be maximized for a photovoltaic cell temperature that
does not significantly affect the electrical performance
of the receiver. The trends of the 1st and 2nd law
efficiencies are reversed. The higher 1st law efficiency
for low coolant temperatures does not guarantee high
2nd law efficiency and vice versa. Energy losses to the
ambient and a lower electric efficiency for even higher
coolant temperatures will become significant, thereby
also limiting the 2nd law efficiency.
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CONCLUSION
The benefits of advanced thermal packaging are
demonstrated through a receiver package consisting of
a single-junction monolithic interconnected module
(MIM) which is directly attached to a high
performance microchannel heat sink. It is shown that
the cooling requirements of photovoltaic cells can be
efficiently addressed by simultaneously achieving high
exergetic efficiencies and enabling reuse of the
generated heat. It was pointed out that the electrical
efficiency of the MIM cell under investigation was
only marginally affected by increased coolant
temperatures. It should be noted that the electrical
efficiency can be further increased by using a MIM
that is based on a dual-junction structure [2]. The
inclusion of thermal power into the energy efficiency
of the receiver boosts the overall efficiency from 15%
to 60%. In addition, the concept of a 2nd law efficiency
was introduced to respect the higher value of electrical
energy compared with thermal energy. The use of hot
water coolant led to a rise of 55% in the 2nd law
efficiency of the receiver, which underscores the
benefit from increased coolant temperature. Last, it is
important to operate the receiver under conditions that
optimize its electric efficiency while allowing
utilization of the generated heat.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank E. Fehrenbacher and M.
Schachtner for support with indoor measurements.
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