This study evaluates how Fresnel-lens soiling and ferrofluid-based microchannel cooling influence the thermal safety and energy output of a highly concentrated photovoltaic system under desert conditions. An integrated optical, thermal, and electrical framework is developed in which Monte Carlo ray tracing generates non-uniform irradiance maps for clean and soiled lens conditions, which are then coupled with a conjugate heat-transfer model of a multijunction solar cell with microchannel heat sinks. The analysis considers a geometric concentration of 1500 suns, water-based Fe 3 O 4 ferrofluids with nanoparticle volume fractions of 2.5%-10.0%, and mass flow rates of 0.001-0.008 kg/s. Results indicate that the clean lens, by increasing the mass flow rate, suppresses hot spots, reducing the maximum cell temperature from 197.70°C to 69.54°C at 2.5% volume fraction and from 371.44°C to 71.92°C at 10.0% volume fraction. Whereas electrical efficiency improves from 39.72% to 41.60% at 2.5% volume fraction, while P net-el remains within 932.87-976.71 W. However, for the dusty lens, a 60% transmittance loss reduces the optical efficiency from 81.46% to 32.58%, lowering the incident power from 800.52 W to 320.21 W and the peak irradiance from 1.0×10 3 MW/m 2 to about 316 MW/m 2 . Although the reduced optical load lowers operating temperature and slightly increases electrical efficiency from 41.08% to 42.05% at 2.5% volume fraction, net electrical power decreases substantially to 385.88-394.72 W. These results show that optimal desert operation requires coordinated control of Fresnel lens cleanliness, coolant volume fraction, and mass flow rate. • Coupled ray-traced non-uniform flux maps for high-concentration photovoltaic cells. • The peak temperature decreased from 197.70°C to 69.54°C at 2.5% volume fraction. • Optimal electrical efficiency was 41.60% for clean and 42.05% for dusty systems. • Optical efficiency dropped from 81.46% to 32.58% under 60% soiling. • Dust slightly increased efficiency but reduced net electrical power to 372-395 W.
Tahir et al. (Fri,) studied this question.