• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 2010

This paper proposes a cooling system using thermoelectric elements for improving the output of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules. The temperature characteristics that improve the output of a BIPV system have rarely been studied up to now but some researchers have proposed a method using a ventilator. The efficiency of a ventilator depends mainly on the weather such as wind, irradiation etc. Because this cooling system is so sensitive to the velocity of the wind, it is unable to operate in the nominal operating cell temperature (NOCT) or the standard test condition (STC) which allow it to generate the maximum output. This paper proposes a cooling system using thermoelectric elements to solve such problems. The temperature control of thermoelectric elements can be controlled independently in an outdoor environment because it is performed by a micro-controller. In addition, it can be operated around the NOCT or the STC through an algorithm for temperature control. Therefore, the output of the system is increased and the efficiency is raised. This paper proves the validity of the proposed method by comparing the data obtained through experiments on the cooling systems of BIPV modules using a ventilator and thermoelectric elements.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.17-22
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• 2007

The integration of PV modules into building facades or roof could raise their temperature that results in the reduction of PV system's electrical power generation. Hot air can be extracted from the space between PV modules and building envelope, and used for heating in buildings. The extraction of hot air from the space will enhance the performance of BIPV systems. The solar collector utilizing these two aspects is called PV/T(photovoltaic/thermal) solar collector. This paper compares the experimental performance of two different types of air type PV/T collector units: the base case of a collector unit with 10cm gap for forced ventilation and the other unit with copper pin attached to PV module to enhance its thermal performance. The experimental results shows that the base case unit had the overall efficiency of 41.9% and the improved unit with copper pin attached to PV module had 50.1% efficiency. For these air type PV/T units, the forced ventilation of the air space improved the electrical performance as well as the thermal performance.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.379-387
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• 2019

A bidirectional flyback converter is a suitable topology for use in a PV-to-bus differential power processing (DPP) module for PV applications due to its electrical isolation capability, bidirectional power transfer, high step-up ratio, and simple circuit structure. However, the bidirectional flyback converter design should consider the effect of the output-side power switch utilized for bidirectional operation compared with that of the conventional flyback converter. This study presents the structure and design methodology of the bidirectional flyback converter for a PV DPP module. Magnetizing inductance is designed by calculating the power loss of converter components within the rated load range under the discontinuous conduction mode, which is unaffected by the reverse recovery characteristics of the anti-parallel diode of the output-side power switch. The validity of the proposed design methodology is verified using a 25 W bidirectional flyback converter prototype. The operational principles and the performance of the DPP operation are verified using practical DPP modules consisting of bidirectional flyback converters implemented according to the proposed design methodology.

• Journal of Energy Engineering
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

In this study, the outdoor evaluation test was performed to characterize the highly-reflective artificial grass to be used for bifacial photovoltaic (PV) power generation system. The 60-cell n-type Si monofacial and bifacial PV modules were employed, where two types of bifacial modules were equipped with split-type and box-type junction boxes, respectively. The results showed that the split-type junction box improved the rear-side power production and thus energy yield of bifacial module compared to the box-type junction box causing the shadow effect. Highly-reflective artificial grass achieved relatively high albedo of 0.18, and excellent bifacial gain of 33%, compared to conventional artificial grass with an albedo of 0.14-0.15, and bifacial gain of 29-30%.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Most PV modules are fabricated by 6 cell-strings with solar cells connected in series. Moreover, bypass diodes are generally installed every 2 cell-strings to prevent PV modules from a damage induced by current mismatch or partial shading. But, in the case of special purpose PV module, like as BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic), the number of cell-strings per module varies according to its size. Differ from a module employing even cell-strings, the configuration of bypass diode should be optimized in the PV module with odd strings because of oppositely facing electrodes. Hence, in this study, electrical characteristics of special purposed PV module with odd string was empirically and theoretically studied depending on arrangement of bypass diode. Here, we assumed that PV module has 3 strings and the number of bypass diodes in the system varies from 2 to 6. In case of 2 bypass diodes, shading on a center string increases short circuit current of the module, because of a parallel circuit induced by 2 bypass diodes connected to center string. Also, the loss is larger, as the shading area in the center string is enlarged. Thus, maximum power of the PV module with 2 bypass diode decreases by up to 59 (%) when shading area varies from 50 to 90 (%). On the other hand, In case of 3 and 6 bypass diodes, the maximum power reduction was within about 3 (W), even the shading area changes from 50 to 90 (%). As a result, It is an alternative to arrange the bypass diode by each string or one bypass diode in the PV module in order to completely bypass current in case of shading, when PV module with odd string are fabricated.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.55-60
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• 2020

The PERC photovoltaic (PV) modules installed in PV power plant are still reports potential-induced degradation (PID) degradation due to high voltage potential differences. This is because Na+ ions in the cover glass of PV modules go through the encapsulant (EVA) and transferred to the surface of solar cells. As positive charges are accumulated at the ARC (SiOx/SiNx) interface where many defects are distributed, shunt-resistance (Rsh) is reduced. As a result, the leakage current is increased, and decrease in solar cell's power output. In this study, to prevent of this phenomenon, a Moth-eye nanostructure was deposited on the rear surface of an optical film using Nano-Imprint Lithography method, and a solar mini-module was constructed by inserting it between the cover glass and the EVA. To analyze the PID phenomenon, a cell-level PID acceleration test based on IEC 62804-1 standard was conducted. Also analyzed power output (Pmax), efficiency, and shunt resistance through Light I-V and Dark I-V. As a result, conventional solar cells were decreased by 6.3% from the initial efficiency of 19.76%, but the improved solar cells with the Moth-eye nanostructured optical film only decreased 0.6%, thereby preventing the PID phenomenon. As of Moth-eye nanostructured optical film, the transmittance was improved by 4%, and the solar module output was improved by 2.5%.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.312-321
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• 2013

In this paper, high efficiency control method for flyback inverter with synchronous rectifier(SR) based on photovoltaic AC modules is proposed. In this control method, the operation of SR is classified according to the voltage spike across main switch SP. When the voltage spike across SP is lower than the rating voltage of SP, the operation of active clamp circuit is interrupted for reducing the switching loss of auxiliary switch. In this time, the SR is operated for soft-switching of SP. When the voltage spike across Sp is higher than the rating voltage of SP, the operation of active circuit is activated for reducing the voltage spike. The SR is operated for reducing the conduction loss of secondary output diode. Thus, a switching loss of the main switch can be reduced in low power region, and weighted-efficiency can be improved. A theoretical analysis and the design principle of the proposed method are provided. And validity is confirmed through simulation and experimental results.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.397-402
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• 2005

Photovoltaic (PV) module can generate electricity using sunlight without causing any environmental degradation. Due to higher fossil fuel prices and environmental awareness, PV applications are becoming more popular as clean source of electricity generation. PV output is sensitive to the operating temperature and can be drastically affected in Building Integrated PV (BIPV) systems. PV Solarwall (SWPV) combination and PV systems have been evaluated in this study for improvement in electrical output and system costs. PV modules under forced ventilation. A 75W polycrystalline silicon PV module was fixed on SW in front of the ventilation fan as it was indicated to be the coolest position on the SW in phoenix simulations. The effectiveness of cooling by means of the forced ventilating air stream has been studied experimentally. The results indicate that there appears to be significant difference in temperature as well as electricity output comparing the SWPV and BIPV options. Electrical output power recovered is about $4\%$ during the typical day of the month of February. RETScreen(R) analysis of a 3kW PV system hypothetically located at Taegu has shown that with typical temperature reduction of $15^{{\circ}C$, it is possible to reduce the simple payback periods by one year. The work described in this paper may be viewed as an appraisal of a SWPV system based on its improved electrical and financial performances due to its ability to operate at relatively lower temperatures.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.35.1-35.1
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• 2011

New photovoltaic (PV) materials and manufacturing approaches are needed for meeting the demand for lower-cost solar cells. The prototypal thin-film photovoltaic absorbers (CdTe and $Cu(In,Ga)Se_2$) can achieve solar conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and are now commercially available, but the presence of toxic (Cd,Se) and expensive elemental components (In, Te) is a real issue as the demand for photovoltaics rapidly increases. To overcome these limitations, there has been substantial interest in developing viable alternative materials, such as $Cu_2ZnSnS_4$ (CZTS) is an emerging solar absorber that is structurally similar to CIGS, but contains only earth abundant, non-toxic elements and has a near optimal direct band gap energy of 1.4~1.6 ev and a large absorption coefficient of ${\sim}10^4\;cm^{-1}$. The CZTS absorber layers are grown and investigated by various fabrication methods, such as thermal evaporation, e-beam evaporation with a post sulfurization, sputtering, non-vacuum sol-gel, pulsed laser, spray-pyrolysis method and electrodeposition technique. In the present work, we report an alternative method for large area deposition of CZTS thin films that is potentially high throughput and inexpensive when used to produce monolithically integrated solar panel modules. Specifically, we have developed an aqueous chemical approach based on chemical bath deposition (CBD) with a subsequent sulfurization heat treatment. Samples produced by our method were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, absorbance and photoluminescence. The results show that this inexpensive and relatively benign process produces thin films of CZTS exhibiting uniform composition, kesterite crystal structure, and good optical properties. A preliminary solar cell device was fabricated to demonstrate rectifying and photovoltaic behavior.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2010

This paper proposes an input-series-output-parallel connected ZVS full bridge converter with interleaved control for photovoltaic power conditioning systems (PV PCS). The input-series connection enables a fully modular power-system architecture, where low voltage and standard power modules can be connected in any combination at the input and/or at the output, to realize any given specifications. Further, the input-series connection enables the use of low-voltage MOSFETs that are optimized for a very low RDSON, thus, resulting in lower conduction losses. The system costs decrease due to the reduced current, and the volumes of the output filters due to the interleaving technique. A topology for a photovoltaic (PV) dc/dc converter that can dramatically reduce the power rating and increase the efficiency of a PV system by analyzing the PV module characteristics is proposed. The control scheme, consisting of an output voltage loop, a current loop and input voltage balancing loops, is proposed to achieve input voltage sharing and output current sharing. The total PV system is implemented for a 10-kW PV power conditioning system (PCS). This system has a dc/dc converter with a 3.6-kW power rating. It is only one-third of the total PV PCS power. A 3.6-kW prototype PV dc/dc converter is introduced to experimentally verify the proposed topology. In addition, experimental results show that the proposed topology exhibits good performance.