Heat exchanger for photovoltaic panels

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9837956-B2
Application number	US-201414242847-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 1, 2014
Priority date	Apr 1, 2014
Publication date	Dec 5, 2017
Grant date	Dec 5, 2017

Abstract

The heat exchanger for photovoltaic (PV) panels is a heat exchanger that maintains a uniform temperature for cooling PV modules. The heat exchanger is a box-shaped enclosure attached to the rear face of the PV panel. The enclosure has an inlet end, an outlet end, and a plurality of parallel baffles disposed between the ends defining a plurality of channels dividing fluid flow through the enclosure into parallel paths. The spaces between the ends of the baffles and the inlet and outlet ends define an inlet header and an outlet header. In one embodiment, the fluid inlet and outlet are disposed in diagonally opposite corners of the disclosure, opening into triangular input and output headers. In another embodiment, the fluid inlet and outlet are centered at the ends of the enclosure, and the outlet header is V-shaped with the vertex extending into the enclosure along its centerline.

First claim

We claim:

1. A uniformly cooled photovoltaic panel, comprising:
a flat photovoltaic panel having a front face and a rear face;
a parallel channel heat exchanger enclosure attached to the rear face of the photovoltaic panel, the heat exchanger enclosure having:
opposed first and second side walls, opposed first and second end walls, and opposed upper and lower surfaces, the side walls, end walls, and upper and lower surfaces defining an enclosure for containing a heat exchange fluid and adapted for attachment to a photovoltaic panel;
an inlet port disposed through the lower surface of the enclosure adjacent the first end wall thereof;
an outlet port disposed through the lower surface of the enclosure adjacent the second end wall thereof;
a plurality of parallel baffles disposed between the upper and lower surfaces of the enclosure, the baffles including at least a first baffle, a medial baffle, and a last baffle, the baffles and side walls being parallel to one another, the baffles and side walls defining a corresponding plurality of parallel coolant channels dividing the enclosure into a plurality of flow paths for the heat exchange fluid, each of the baffles having a first end spaced apart from the first end wall and a second end spaced apart from the second end wall;
an inlet header defined between the first ends of the baffles, the side walls and the first end wall; and
an outlet header defined between the second ends of the baffles, the side walls and the second end wall, wherein the inlet port and the outlet port are disposed substantially along a centerline of said enclosure, the inlet header being substantially rectangular in shape, the outlet header having a vertex disposed on the centerline, each of the baffles having a length associated therewith such that one of the plurality of baffles is positioned along the centerline and has a shortest length of the plurality of baffles, the lengths of ones of the plurality of baffles positioned between the centerline and a first one of the side walls incrementally increasing in length, the lengths of ones of the plurality of baffles positioned between the centerline and a second one of the side walls incrementally increasing in length, the plurality of baffles being symmetric about the centerline with respect to the lengths thereof, the inlet port opening into the inlet header and the outlet port opening into the outlet header.

2. The uniformly cooled photovoltaic panel according to claim 1 , wherein the rear face of the photovoltaic panel defines the upper surface of the enclosure.

3. A heat exchanger for a photovoltaic panel, comprising:
an enclosure having opposed first and second side walls, opposed first and second end walls, and opposed upper and lower surfaces, the side walls, end walls, and upper and lower surfaces defining an enclosure for containing a heat exchange fluid and adapted for attachment to a photovoltaic panel;
an inlet port disposed through the lower surface of the enclosure adjacent the first end wall thereof;
an outlet port disposed through the lower surface of the enclosure adjacent the second end wall thereof;
a plurality of parallel baffles disposed between the upper and lower surfaces of the enclosure, the baffles including at least a first baffle, a medial baffle, and a last baffle, the baffles and side walls being parallel to one another, the baffles and side walls defining a corresponding plurality of parallel coolant channels dividing the enclosure into a plurality of flow paths for the heat exchange fluid, each of the baffles having a first end spaced apart from the first end wall and a second end spaced apart from the second end wall;
an inlet header defined between the first ends of the baffles, the side walls and the first end wall; and
an outlet header defined between the second ends of the baffles, the side walls and the second end wall, wherein the inlet port and the outlet port are disposed substantially along a centerline of said enclosure, the inlet header being substantially rectangular in shape, the outlet header having a vertex disposed on the centerline, each of the baffles having a length associated therewith such that one of the plurality of baffles is positioned along the centerline and has a shortest length of the plurality of baffles, the lengths of ones of the plurality of baffles positioned between the centerline and a first one of the side walls incrementally increasing in length, the lengths of ones of the plurality of baffles positioned between the centerline and a second one of the side walls incrementally increasing in length, the plurality of baffles being symmetric about the centerline with respect to the lengths thereof, the inlet port opening into the inlet header and the outlet port opening into the outlet header.

4. The heat exchanger for a photovoltaic panel according to claim 3 , further comprising a photovoltaic panel disposed atop the enclosure, the photovoltaic panel having a rear face defining the upper surface of the enclosure.

Assignees

• Univ King Fahd Pet & Minerals

Inventors

• Siddiqui Muhammad Usama
• Arif Abul Fazal Muhammad
• Zubair Syed M

Classifications

• H02S40/425 Primary

  using a gaseous or a liquid coolant, e.g. air flow ventilation, water circulation · CPC title

• Y02E10/50

  Photovoltaic [PV] energy · CPC title