Experimental Exergetic Performance Evaluation of Solar PV Module

Abstract- Solar Photovoltaic system generates both electrical and thermal energy from solar radiation. In this work, an attempt has been made for evaluating thermal, electrical and exergy output of solar PV module (Tata BP 184459) at Energy Centre, MANIT Bhopal. Using the first law of thermodynamics, energy analysis was performed and Exergy analysis was carried out to determine exergy losses during the photovoltaic conversion process by applying the second law of thermodynamics. The operating and electrical parameters of a PV module includes module temperature, overall heat loss coefficient, open-circuit voltage, short-circuit current, fill factor, etc were experimentally determined for a typical hazy day (12 May 2014) at Bhopal. The experimental data are used for the calculation of the energy and exergy efficiencies of the PV module. Energy efficiency is seen to vary between 6 % and 9 % during the day. In contrast, exergy efficiency is lower for electricity generation using the considered PV module, ranging from 8 % to 10%. Index Terms- Energy, Exergy, PV module, thermal, performance evaluation. I