Thermohydraulic performance analysis of HCPV/T systems with impinging confined jets and symmetric multi-junction PV modules

•Cooling of four high concentrator photovoltaic-thermal systems is investigated.•Highest electrical efficiency is achieved when the cells are closest to each other.•The non-uniformity of the germanium layer temperature varies between 10°C to 20°C.•The jet impingement for HCPV produces a negligible frictional power 0.0071 W.•Packed cells with four inlet nozzles at their centers give 1°C lower temperatures. This study investigates the cooling of four high-concentrator photovoltaic/thermal systems with panels that have two lines of symmetry. Liquid-submerged jet impingement is used to cool four symmetric multi-junction modules. The performance of four circular impinging jets with nozzle diameters of 1 mm under each cell is compared with that of a circular impinging jet with a nozzle diameter of 2.5 mm at the center of the heat sink. The solar radiation of 1000 suns is considered in the simulations. The flow regimes are laminar, and the results are obtained for mass flow rates within the range of 100-200 gr/min. Since the geometry of the problem is complex, no analytical solution for temperature distribution is available. Also, there are no suitable tools for measuring the temperature distribution in the flow and solid walls at the desired scales. Therefore, a three-dimensional simulation using the finite volume method by Fluent was used in this research. To apply the relationship between the cell temperature and the electrical efficiency in each iteration and achieve the new cell temperature, a User-defined Function (UDF) has been developed. The cell arrangement on panels in both jet configurations (four nozzles and a single nozzle) gives average cell temperature differences that are less than 1°C. The single nozzle system reduces the flow pressure drop while it increases the maximum temperature of the germanium layer by 8°C and makes its temperature more non-uniform than the four nozzles system with the same configuration. The non-uniformity in the surface temperature of the germanium layer in all the models varies between 10°C and 20°C which indicates the necessity of combining this technique with another method to cool such a system.