PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL AND A MINICHANNEL COOLER SOLAR COLLECTOR COMBINATION (PV-T)

Abstract

A photovoltaic solar panel is provided. The photovoltaic solar panel includes a glass positioned in front of photovoltaic solar cells in order to provide environmental protection, an adhesive used in the solar panel, an array of soldered photovoltaic solar cells which generates electricity, a mini/micro channel cooler configured to remove heat from the photovoltaic solar cells and being adhered right behind the photovoltaic solar cell by the adhesive, Tedlar Polyester Tedlar (TPT) adhered to the cooler by the adhesive for environmental protection, an insulator having a thermal structure configured to use when the solar panel is connected to a container to warm up water inside the container, a cover positioned below the insulator and being configured to protect the insulator from humidity and medium harmful effects, a circulating pump configured to circulate coolant from the cooler to the container, and a polymer tube configured to remove the heat from the panel to the ground.

Claims

1. A photovoltaic solar panel comprising: a glass positioned in front of photovoltaic solar cells in order to provide environmental protection, an adhesive used in the solar panel, an array of soldered photovoltaic solar cells which generates electricity, a mini/micro channel cooler configured to remove heat from the photovoltaic solar cells and being adhered right behind the photovoltaic solar cell by the adhesive, Tedlar Polyester Tedlar (TPT) adhered to the cooler by the adhesive for environmental protection, an insulator having a thermal structure configured for use when the solar panel is connected to a container to warm up water inside the container, a cover positioned below the insulator and being configured to protect the insulator from humidity and medium harmful effects, a circulating pump configured to circulate coolant from the cooler to the container, and a polymer tube configured to remove the heat from the panel to the ground.

2. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 1, wherein the mini/micro channel cooler comprises micro or mini channels.

3. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 2, wherein each channel comprises a height between 0.4-2 mm and a width between 0.5-5 mm.

4. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 2, wherein the channels, in which the coolant enters, comprises an overall width between 125-156 mm.

5. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 2, wherein the coolant flows in the mini/micro channel cooler through the channels, alongside a panel length, and turns round in serpentine shape to subsequent rows of channels along the panel length just under the photovoltaic solar cells.

6. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 1, wherein the mini/micro channel cooler comprises aluminum or an extruded polymer material.

7. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 1, wherein extracted heat from the panel is dissipated to the ground via the polymer tube, wherein the polymer tube is buried.

8. The photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive adheres the photovoltaic solar cells to the glass and adheres the mini/micro channel cooler right behind the photovoltaic solar cell.

9. photovoltaic solar panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive comprises an ethylene vinyl acetate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0007] FIG. 1, shows a photovoltaic panel and a mini/micro channel cooler solar thermal collector combination (pv-t).

[0008] FIG. 2, shows the solar panel, buried polymer pipe and circulating pump.

REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0009] 1 Glass [0010] 2 Adhesive [0011] 3 Photovoltaic solar cells [0012] 4 Mini/micro channel Cooler [0013] 5 Tedlar Polyester Tedlar (TPT) [0014] 6 Insulator [0015] 7 Cover [0016] 8 Photovoltaic panel and mini/micro channel combination [0017] 9 Circulating pump [0018] 10 Polymer tube

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] In this detailed description the novelty subject to the invention is described by means of examples that are non-limiting but are intended to further describe the invention.

[0020] The invention is a photovoltaic-thermal solar panel, related to a photovoltaic panel and a mini/micro channel cooler solar collector combination (pv-t) (8). In order to provide environmental protection, a glass (1) is adhered in front of the Photovoltaic solar cells (3) by an adhesive (2) such as EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). An aluminum or polymer mini/microchannels cooler (4) formed of mini or micro channels has been adhered right behind the Photovoltaic solar cell (3) by adhesive (2) such as EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). The height of each channel is between 0.4-2 mm and the width is 0.5-5 mm. The overall width of the channels which the coolant enters is about between 125-156 mm (dimensions of Photovoltaic (PV) cells). The coolant flows in the mini/micro channel cooler (4) through the channels, alongside of the panel length, and turns round in serpentine shape to the next rows of channels along the panel length just under the PV cells. Minichannels and microchannels have higher heat transfer capability as the ratio of the area to the volume is high. The cooler has such a feature and therefore it can remove more heat from the cells in comparison to other similar products. Additionally as the thickness of the channels is small, the volume of the cooler is low and consequently it is lighter compared with other products. The heat received by the Photovoltaic solar cells (3) is carried to the water container after a cycle and it then heats the water inside the container. This liquid (water+ethylene glycol) which has lost its heat is pumped back to the cooler and this cycle is repeated. Alternatively, the extracted heat from photovoltaic panel and a mini/micro channel cooler solar collector combination (pv-t) (8) would be dissipated to the ground by buried polymer pipes or polymer tubes (10). This way, the PV cells of solar panel are maintained cool and consequently the electrical efficiency and lifetime will increase. The materials used for producing PV-T solar panels have been placed on top of each other as layers and have been mounted in about 25 minutes at a temperature of about 140 C. These materials are respectively glass (1), transparent adhesive (2) such as EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate), an array of soldered photovoltaic solar cells (3) and adhesive (2) the mini/micro channel cooler (4), adhesive (2), and Tedlar Polyester Tedlar (TPT) (5). In the case of heat storage in a container, a thermal insulator (6) placed inside a metal frame is enclosed with a cover (7). The mini/micro channel cooler (4) has a structure formed of aluminum or polymer material. Mini/micro channel cooler (4) is made of aluminum or polymer material by extrusion method.

[0021] The insulator (6) (if the cooler is used to store the transferred heat to a container) is used when the solar panel is connected to the container to warm up the water of inside it. Otherwise, the insulator (6) and the cover (7) will not be used in the panel. The cover (7) is used to protect the insulator from humidity and medium harmful effects. So when the panel is connected to the polymer pipe/Polymer tube (10) in the ground, the cover (7) and the insulator (6) will be removed. The EVA is an adhesive (2). It is a common adhesive material which is used in the solar panels.

[0022] According to the description above, the invention is a photovoltaic solar panel made up of photovoltaic solar cells and a mini/micro channel cooler solar collector combination (pv-t) (8), characterized by comprising; [0023] A glass (1) which is positioned in front of photovoltaic solar cells (3) in order to provide environmental protection, [0024] Adhesive (2) which is used in the solar panel, [0025] An array of soldered photovoltaic solar cells (3) which generates electricity, [0026] Mini/micro channel Cooler (4) which is providing to remove more heat from the cells and which have been adhered right behind the Photovoltaic solar cell (3) by adhesive (2), [0027] Tedlar Polyester Tedlar (TPT) (5) which have been adhered to the cooler by adhesive (2) for environmental protection, [0028] Insulator (6) which is having a thermal structure, is used when the solar panel is connected to the container to warm up the water of inside it, [0029] A cover (7) which is positioned below the insulator (6), is used to protect the insulator from humidity and medium harmful effects, [0030] Circulating pump (9) which is used to circulate the coolant from the cooler to the container/buried tube, [0031] Polymer tube (10) which is used to remove the heat from the panel to the ground.