Thermal-electric performance analysis for actively cooled, concentrating photovoltaic systems

The photovoltaic cell within a composite stack of the receiver for a concentrating photovoltaic electrical power system is modelled as a combination electricity and waste heat generator. The waste heat generator concept leads to analytical solutions describing temperature and power production profiles for the photovoltaic receiver. The analytical solutions considered the cases where convective losses to the surroundings may either be neglected or included. Examples of operating modes using the model are given.