Cooling performance of an acrylic serpentine with a rectangular cross section
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abstract
In recent years, photovoltaic panels have been established as one of the main sources of
electricity considered to be clean. Its efficiency and lifetime are greatly influenced by the
operating temperature. Active cooling using cylindrical copper serpentines is one of the
most common methods for many systems. However, due to the cylindrical geometry of
the tubes, the contact with the plate is a point and its area tends to be zero. In this way,
serpentines that provide a bigger contact area between the heat removal system and the
solar panel board are desired. Serpentines manufactured by machining acrylic plates in
CNC milling machines allow the construction of a channel with a rectangular cross-section
with a considerable area of contact between the channel and the plate. The obtained results
show that there was a significant improvement in the heat exchange between the plate
and the thermofluid when the acrylic serpentine with a rectangular section was used.
This work has been partially funded through national funds FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC)
from the following research units: UIDB/00532/2020, UIDB/04077/2020,
UIDP/04436/2020, UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDP/00690/2020. The authors are also
grateful for FCT funding through PTDC/EMETED/7801/2020,NORTE-01-0145-
FEDER-030171 funded by COMPETE2020, NORTE2020, PORTUGAL2020, and
FEDER. National funding by FCT, Foundation for Science and Technology, through the
individual research grant PRT/BD/153088/2021 of Glauco Tapijara Vallicelli Nobrega
