Enhanced performance of diurnal radiative cooling for solar cells based on a grating-textured PDMS photonic structure

The extra heat generated by solar cells during the daytime will inevitably erode its efficiency and shorten working lifetime. In this work, a grating-textured polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) photonic structure is proposed to lower the working temperature and enhance the efficiency through radiative cooling. A comprehensive study is carried out to enhance the infrared thermal radiation in the atmospheric window. It can effectively reflect the waste solar irradiance of 128.95 W/m2 at 300 K. In addition, the photonic cooler features angle and polarization-independent properties, which is desirable in the application of solar panels. As a case study of encapsulated solar cells, it can ideally realize a temperature drop of 11.47 K through thermal analysis, achieving an efficiency enhancement of 1.39%. The improvement in other types of solar cells is also carried out. Therefore, this cooler paves a new avenue to explore thermal management of solar energy harvesting and radiative vapor condenser systems.