Masters Degrees (DPCMS)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (DPCMS) by Author "Mbalundu, Hertha Liina"

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    Assessment of the thermal and energy performance of Photovoltaic modules in Agrivoltaics systems
    (University of Namibia, 2025) Mbalundu, Hertha Liina; Dobreva, Petja
    The study evaluates the thermal and energy performance of photovoltaic modules in an agrivoltaic system in Benin, west Africa. This was done by employing three sets of heat transfer coefficients: Faiman, Benin, and Büren into the Faiman module temperature prediction model. The dataset for this study extends from April to July 2023, marked by high ambient temperatures exceeding 30℃. According to the findings, the cooling effect was significant for the results of Büren coefficients, and the agrivoltaic system generated up to 3.0% more energy than the non-agrivoltaic, especially at higher module temperature ranges of 40 ℃ - 55 ℃. The Benin coefficients demonstrated a moderate cooling effect, evidenced by a positive energy yield difference of up to 1.0% in the month of May. However, the cooling effect reduced in the hotter month of July resulting in a -1.0% energy difference between the two systems. The Faiman coefficient, on the other hand, demonstrated no cooling effect, as shown by consistently yielding negative energy differences, especially in May (-1.0%). The statistical analysis indicates that the Faiman coefficients provided a closer fit to the actual Benin-derived temperatures (R2 : 0.99 and MAE: 0.54 ℃). Whereas the results from the Büren coefficients showed the strongest cooling effect, achieving a reduction in module temperatures of up to 4℃ relative to the non-agrivoltaic system. The findings highlight the need for site-specific coefficient tuning to enhance the accuracy and the reliability of the findings