Thermal modeling and measurement of junctions in photovoltaic packages

This study reports the direct thermal observation of the junction temperature and determination of the thermal resistance in a commercial solar cell package under actual operating conditions. A thermal transient method was the key method that was utilized for the thermal characterization of the device. Sunlight directed into the solar cell package was found to increase significantly the heat generation inside the solar cell package. It was shown that the operation of the solar cell package with sunlight of 1 sun resulted in a junction temperature of about 113 °C. The simulation data were in good agreement with the measured values. Detailed thermal performance of the solar cell package was projected using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method under various operating conditions. Thermal resistance was determined under various operating conditions.