The Impact of Roof Material Profile and Pigmentation on the Performance of Photovoltaic Modules

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dc.contributor.authorAigbedion, Nosakhare
dc.contributor.authorNjoka, Francis
dc.contributor.authorMunji, Mathew
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-17T10:05:17Z
dc.date.available2023-11-17T10:05:17Z
dc.date.issued2023-11
dc.descriptionArticleen_US
dc.description.abstractThis study combines simulations and experiments to study the heat interactions between various types of roofs and the photovoltaic (PV) modules installed on them. Specifically, the performance of PV modules on a clay roof was compared with their performance on two types of metal roofs, a Box-profile metal roof and an Orientile metal roof, which differ in shape and geometry. Additionally, this study examined the cooling potential of three common metal roof pigments, iron (iii) oxide (Fe2O3 ), titanium dioxide (TiO2 ) and basalt, on roof-installed PV modules. An unpigmented roof was also studied for comparison purposes. Model development and simulation were implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics, and the simulation results were validated and compared with field experiments. The maximum open-circuit voltages of the PV installations were found to be 21.096 V for the clay roof, 20.945 V for the Box-profile metal roof and 20.718 V for the Orientile metal roof. This study revealed that the unpigmented roof had higher solar cell temperatures compared to the pigmented models, with temperature gains ranging from 2.2 ◦C to 2.71 ◦C. Moreover, the unpigmented model displayed significantly higher surface radiosity than the pigmented models. The performance output of the modules also varied depending on the metal roof sheet shape and geometry, with the Box-profile metal roof yielding better results than the Orientile metal roof sheet. These results indicate that a specific roof pigmentation may have a small impact on a single PV module, but it can become significant in a large array of modules, especially if cooling through natural convection is hindered.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipFederal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)en_US
dc.identifier.citationAigbedion, N., Njoka, F., & Munji, M. (2023, November). The Impact of Roof Material Profile and Pigmentation on the Performance of Photovoltaic Modules. In Solar (Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 618-637). MDPI.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.3390/solar3040033
dc.identifier.urihttp://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/27147
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.subjectmetal roof pigmentationen_US
dc.subjectroof profileen_US
dc.subjectheat transferen_US
dc.subjectsolar cell temperaturesen_US
dc.subjectPV performanceen_US
dc.subjectCOMSOL Multiphysicsen_US
dc.titleThe Impact of Roof Material Profile and Pigmentation on the Performance of Photovoltaic Modulesen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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