Thermal Computational Model to Analyze PV Modules: Preliminary Results

A computational model of a PV module was implemented to describe its thermal behaviour considering the geographical conditions of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. In order to analyze the effects of non uniform illumination on the thermal profiles of a PV module, a reflecting surface was added adjacent to a PV module edge. A finite difference formulation was used to represents the thermal patterns of each PV describing the thermal conditions of each particular solar cell within the PV module. The mathematical model and the preliminary results obtained for two time instants are presented using real meteorological data to reflect the effect of the wind patterns.