Recent content by xharville

Would it be safe to say that the energy not converted to electricity by a photovolatic panel is lost as thermal energy. Therefore if a solar panel has a 13.1 % efficiency at converting photons into electric energy then 86.9% is loss as thermal energy.

Does thermal conductivity have any connection with heat transfer coefficient? If so what is one in terms of the other.

But how would one find the overall heat transfer coefficient of the solar panel. Would I just use the thermal conductivity value of the solar cells and use this value for the entire photovoltaic panel. Also what value would I use if I added a steel backing to the photovoltaic panel.

I was wondering how one would calculate the heat transfer of an object such as a photovoltaic panel that is made up of different materials, all with different thermal conductivity values. Also how would one calculate the heat transfer if a photovoltaic panel is on top of a flowing water source.

I am doing a photovoltaic experiment and I wanted to know if anyone knew the heat transfer value of a photovoltaic panel or how to calculate it.

I am trying to transfer heat through the solar panel to heat the water. I know that 43 % of the energy created by photovoltaic panels is loss through heat. So I was trying to figure out how hot I would be able to get the water and how much heat energy would be created. I was going to replace...

I was wondering if anyone knew the average temperature of photovoltaic panels assuming normal conditions.

I want to attach a photovoltaic panel on top of a thermal absorbing system. My idea was to to replace or add a steel backing to the photovoltaic panel. The thermal system would consist of a box filled with water, which would be in direct contact with the panel. But before I begin my idea I...

I was wondering if anyone knew the heat transfer coefficient of a thin steel sheet on top of water. It is vital that I find this answer because it is a major part of my research. I found one formula which stated that the U value could be found by using the formula 1/U= x1/k1 + x2/k2. I wanted to...