https://github.com/cfdby/pv-panel-cooling-with-air-flow
A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study simulating air-cooling effects on a photovoltaic panel under 800 W/m² solar load, implemented in ANSYS Fluent using SST k-ω turbulence modeling with 60,000+ mesh elements.
https://github.com/cfdby/pv-panel-cooling-with-air-flow
ansys-fluent cfd matlab renewable-energy solar-panels
Last synced: 3 months ago
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A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study simulating air-cooling effects on a photovoltaic panel under 800 W/m² solar load, implemented in ANSYS Fluent using SST k-ω turbulence modeling with 60,000+ mesh elements.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/cfdby/pv-panel-cooling-with-air-flow
- Owner: CFDBY
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-06-07T19:47:38.000Z (4 months ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-06-08T22:28:15.000Z (4 months ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-06-26T11:01:53.600Z (3 months ago)
- Topics: ansys-fluent, cfd, matlab, renewable-energy, solar-panels
- Language: MATLAB
- Homepage:
- Size: 567 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# 📌 CFD Project: PV Panel Cooling with Air Flow (2D - Steady)
This project is a **CFD + Thermal analysis** study modeling the cooling of a 2D photovoltaic (PV) panel with natural external air flow. It was conducted as part of the preparation for the **Smart Renewable Energy Engineering** master's program at Gdansk University of Technology.
## 🎯 Objectives
- Model the heat input equivalent to constant solar radiation on the PV panel (800 W/m²)
- Analyze how effectively the air flow cools the panel
- Obtain outputs such as `Total Heat Transfer`, `Panel Surface Temperature`, and `Velocity Field`
- Calculate and compare results with MATLAB and CFD
---
## ⚙️ Simulation Details
- **Software**: ANSYS Fluent R1 2025 (Student Version)
- **Geometry**: 2D, rectangular PV panel (1m × 0.2m)
- **Mesh**: 60,000+ elements, refined in critical regions
- **Flow Type**: Incompressible, Steady-State, **Turbulent (SST k-ω)**
- **Initial Model**: Laminar; switched to SST k-omega due to solution instability
- **Panel Definition**: Solid body, heat flux applied to outer surfaces to simulate heat input
---
## 🧪 Boundary Conditions
| Surface | Definition |
|-----------------|------------------------------|
| Inlet | Velocity Inlet (2 m/s, 300 K) |
| Outlet | Pressure Outlet (0 Pa) |
| Panel Perimeter (4 edges) | Heat Flux: 800 W/m² |
| Other Walls | Symmetry or adiabatic |
**Total surface area** (panel perimeter):
\[
A = 2 \times 1.0 + 2 \times 0.2 = 2.4 \, \text{m}^2
\]
**Total heat input**:
\[
Q_{\text{input}} = 800 \times 2.4 = 1920 \, \text{W}
\]
---
## 📈 Results Visualization
### Temperature Distribution
### Air Flow Patterns
### Convergence Monitoring
---
## 📊 Key Results
- **Average panel temperature**: 374.60 K
- **Total Heat Transfer Rate** (Fluent): 1920 W
- **Inlet air temperature**: 300 K
- **Heat transfer coefficient (h)**: 26.60 W/m²·K (calculated with MATLAB)
## Revision Notes for Heat Flux Implementation
### Issue Identified
In my previous simulation, I applied a heat flux of 800 W/m² uniformly across **four surfaces**.
This configuration is **physically unrealistic** for solar panels, as incident heat flux only originates from the **top surface** in real-world scenarios.
### Impact & Corrections
While the model remains **mathematically valid**, the unphysical setup affected key results.
To resolve this, I've updated:
1. **Total Heat Transfer Rate** graph
2. **Area-Weighted Static Temperature** distributions
### Visual Documentation
### Key Technical Takeaways
- **Physical vs. Mathematical Validity**: Aligning boundary conditions with real-world constraints is critical.
- **Data Transparency**: Revisions documented with standardized graphs for reproducibility.
---
---
## 📉 MATLAB Code Analysis
The complete MATLAB analysis script is available here:
[Matlab_Analysis.m](Matlab_Analysis.m)
```matlab
% Input Data
q_flux = 800; % W/m²
total_surface_area = 2.4; % m²
Q_input = q_flux * total_surface_area; % W
Q_removed = 1920; % W
T_panel = 374.60; % K
T_inlet = 300.00; % K
% Efficiency
eta = Q_removed / Q_input;
% Heat Transfer Coefficient
delta_T = T_panel - T_inlet;
h = Q_removed / (total_surface_area * delta_T);
% Outputs
fprintf('--- CFD Heat Transfer Results ---\n');
fprintf('Q_input: %.2f W\n', Q_input);
fprintf('Q_removed: %.2f W\n', Q_removed);
fprintf('Efficiency: %.2f%%\n', eta * 100);
fprintf('Heat Transfer Coefficient h: %.2f W/m²K\n', h);
```
---
✉️ **Contact**: [Burak Yorukcu](mailto:burakyorukcu@outlook.com)
🔗 **Project Owner**: [@burakyorukcu](mailto:burakyorukcu@outlook.com)