Thermal management in a passively cooled concentrator photovoltaic module

To obtain a highly efficient photovoltaic concentrator module together with high reliability and lifetime, the temperature level within such a photovoltaic module must be minimized. Particularly in concentrator modules, high concentration factors and inhomogeneous illumination result in high local heat flux densities. In this paper, a thermal model for a typical Fresnel lens based concentrator module with passive heat sinks is conceptualized. Measurements acquired from a thermal test module are used to determine input parameters for the FEM-calculations to optimize the thermal management in a concentrator module.