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Modeling Radiation Transport in Biomimetic Configuration of Solar Cells for Enhanced Sunlight Capture Using the Monte Carlo Method

Verma, Navni
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397213192

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering.
Solar photovoltaic cells are conventionally installed in two-dimensional arrays (or flat panels) with a fixed orientation and tilt angle. The fixed unidirectional configuration, however, is ineffective at capturing the maximum possible incident solar energy due to two predominant reasons. First, the solar energy captured by a flat photovoltaic module depends on the cosine of the angle of incidence (Lambert’s cosine law) and is maximum only when the module faces the sun directly. As the angle of incidence between a unidirectional module and the incoming sunlight changes with time of the day, season, and geographic location, the solar radiation captured by a flat photovoltaic panel is considerably less than the available incoming sunlight. Second, typical glass sheets covering solar cells have high reflectivity at grazing angles of incidence. Therefore, for a unidirectional panel, unless the sunlight is incident almost directly, much of the radiation is reflected by the glass cover and lost. In this work, it is hypothesized that solar photovoltaic cells arranged in complex three-dimensional leaf-like configurations, referred to as a solar tree, can potentially capture more sunlight than the traditional planar arrays. As opposed to the capture efficiency of the fixed unidirectional solar array, which decreases dramatically for shallow angles of incidence due to the afore-mentioned reasons, the capture efficiency of a solar tree is hampered little by the varying solar incidence angles owing to the three-dimensional, multi-directional orientation of the solar leaves. Additionally, the utilization of the three-dimensional space can potentially increase the overall surface area over which the sunlight may be captured. In order to test these hypotheses, high fidelity Monte Carlo simulation of solar radiation transport has been conducted. The Monte Carlo simulations provide local radiation flux distributions in addition to global radiation flux summaries. The effects of several geometric parameters, namely the capture area of the solar cells (number of leaves), the tilt angle of leaves and the angle of solar irradiation, which influence the performance of the proposed solar tree have been studied systematically and compared to the performance of the flat panel configuration. The studies show that except for near-normal solar incidence angles, solar trees capture sunlight more effectively than flat panels, often by more than a factor of 5. The Monte Carlo results have also been interpolated to construct a daily sunlight capture profile both for mid-winter and mid-summer for five cities representative of the entire latitude range of cities in the United States. The study shows that irrespective of the location and the season, solar trees are more efficient in capturing sunlight compared to unidirectional flat panels. In particular, the performance of the solar trees has been found to be dramatically superior to that of the unidirectional flat panels during the winter season and at higher latitudes.
Sandip Mazumder (Advisor)
Mark Walter (Committee Member)
146 p.
Mechanical Engineering
sunlight capture; solar energy; solar tree; photovoltaic; Monte Carlo simulation; computational modeling

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Verma, N. (2014). Modeling Radiation Transport in Biomimetic Configuration of Solar Cells for Enhanced Sunlight Capture Using the Monte Carlo Method [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397213192

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Verma, Navni. Modeling Radiation Transport in Biomimetic Configuration of Solar Cells for Enhanced Sunlight Capture Using the Monte Carlo Method . 2014. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397213192.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Verma, Navni. "Modeling Radiation Transport in Biomimetic Configuration of Solar Cells for Enhanced Sunlight Capture Using the Monte Carlo Method ." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1397213192

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.