Numerical Modeling of Turbulent Natural Convection in a Concentrating Photovoltaic System

A Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) system arranged in an asymmetrically heated inclined parallel plate configuration is numerically simulated to investigate the turbulent natural convection inside the system. The flow is induced by the thermal buoyancy force. A low-Reynolds-number k-ε model with modified near wall functions from the Yang-Shih turbulence model has been adapted to numerically solve transport equations for k and ε. The model predictions are validated with available numerical and experimental data given in the literature. The comparison with the published data indicates a good agreement. The calculations are performed for asymmetric heating and assuming the fixed value for CPV cell temperature. The aspect ratio (L/W) and Rayleigh number are kept constant at 36.75 and 2.49×10⁸ respectively. The current study is focused on evaluating the impact of variation of channel inclination and Nusselt number on the thermal profile inside the CPV system.