Aluminum foils can reduce temperature in double-glass PV modules by 6 C

Scientists in China placed a 0.5 mm thick aluminum foil between the solar cell and the EVA, and between the EVA and the glass layer. The two experimental modules were compared to a reference module and were found to dissipate heat and increase the in-plane temperature uniformity.

January 31, 2025 Lior Kahana

Image: MdeVicente, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

A research group led by scientists from China’s Nanchang University has proposed including aluminum (Al) foil inside PV modules to enhance its in-plane thermal conductivity and cool it from within. The team has proposed two placements for the foil, manufactured them, and compared them to a reference device without Al.

“Passive cooling methods such as phase change cooling and radiation cooling dissipate heat from the surface of the PV module, and less consideration focuses on the in-plane heat conduction close to the solar cell,” the academic said. “In this article, we introduce Al foil with good thermal conductivity into the PV module structure to dissipate heat from the transversal direction and simultaneously increase the in-plane temperature uniformity of the PV module.”

The first structural model placed the 0.5 mm thick Al foil between the c-Si solar cell and the ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) layer (CAE), while in the second device, it was placed between the EVA and the glass layer (EAG). A reference module was also created with no Al foil layer at all. All layers had an area of 250 mm on 250 mm, except the cell, which had measurements of 156 mm on 156 mm. A thermocouple was attached to the back of each module.

The standard PV module, the EAG, and the CAE PV panels were placed on the bracket at the same time, with the bracket facing south at an inclination angle of 30°. “The outdoor experiments were conducted in February 2024 on the rooftop of the Material Building of Nanchang University. Temperature data were collected by the temperature logger every 1 min,” said the academics.

Testing the setup on a cloudy day, the maximum and average cooling effect of the EAG PV module, compared to the reference, were 2.9 C and 1.9 C, respectively. The corresponding cooling effects for the CAE PV module were 2.3 C and 1.5 C, respectively. On a clear day, the maximum and average cooling effect of the EAG PV were 4.7 C and 2.4 C, respectively; and 3.6 C and 1.5 C for the CAE.

To evaluate the effect of Al foil on the in-plane thermal uniformity of PV mini modules, an additional thermocouple was added to the edge of each module. While at the reference module, the maximum difference was 20 C, at the EAG, the difference peaked at 14.6 C, and 14.9 C at the CAE.

Following those results, the group conducted a finite-element simulation of the modules that showed deviation from the experimental setup but was “basically consistent.” Focusing on the EAG structure, which had better results and is also preferred for electrical safety, the team simulated a commercial module. It used PERC cells in a 6 X 10 structure. “Results show that Al foil reduces the temperature difference on the whole PV module by 6.170 C and improves the temperature uniformity compared with the reference PV module,” they found.

The results were presented in “Reducing the temperature of monofacial double-glass photovoltaic module by enhancing in-plane thermal conductivity,” published in Next Energy. Researchers from China’s Nanchang University and Chinese PV manufacturer Jiangxi Caihong Photovoltaic conducted the research.

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