Thermal effects due to environmental variables in photovoltaic cells

We present the temperature profile and transient thermal response of a 3D finite element model of a solar cell, to irradiation fluctuations of few seconds. The analysis demonstrates the impact of environmental variables namely, irradiation, wind speed and shading on the cell temperature. Increase in irradiation largely enhances the spatial gradients and the temporal changes of temperature in the cell whereas increase in wind speed reduces the mean temperature of the cell. In addition to the existing spatial gradients, an application of partial shading further induces significant lateral temperature changes in each cell layer.