The "Neue Monte Rosa Hütte (NMRH)" in Switzerland

The hut is equipped with the latest high-tech and can produce up to 90% of the energy itself. One important part in the whole energy system is the solar panel, which of course must be very efficient.

Therefore the cooling of the solar panels was investigated through 3D CFD simulations. The following pictures gives an overview over the motivation and objectives.

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Investigated designs

Two different desing variations have been investigated. The reference design and a design with an increased distance between the roof and the solar panel. The idea behind this increased gap is to allow more amount of air flowing through gap. The air flow occurs due to natural convection.

The following picture shows the two configurations, the geometry on one hand and the boundary conditions on the other hand.

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Results

The following picture shows the temperature distribution of the solar panels and the surrounding air. It can be seen that an increased gap between the panel and the roof of the hut reduces the overall panel temperature due to better cooling effect.

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The surface temperature of the panel along the height is shown in the following pictures which underlines the cooling effect of the "large gap" version.

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