Assessment of the thermal and energy performance of Photovoltaic modules in Agrivoltaics systems
| dc.contributor.advisor | Dobreva, Petja | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mbalundu, Hertha Liina | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-09-16T14:22:11Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-09-16T14:22:11Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.description | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Renewable Energy | |
| dc.description.abstract | 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 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11070/4123 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of Namibia | |
| dc.subject | Agrivoltaic (APV) | |
| dc.subject | Photovoltaic (PV) | |
| dc.subject | Thermal Analysis | |
| dc.subject | Cooling Effects | |
| dc.subject | Integrated PV | |
| dc.subject | Namibia | |
| dc.subject | University of Namibia | |
| dc.title | Assessment of the thermal and energy performance of Photovoltaic modules in Agrivoltaics systems | |
| dc.type | Thesis |