Radiative Cooling of Solar Cells with Cement-Based Materials

Lowering the operating temperature of solar cells can increase efficiency and lifespan of these devices. Among the available thermal management options, radiative cooling shines because of its passive nature and systemic simplicity. Unfortunately, the applicability of most radiative coolers to industrial manufacturing is questioned by high cost or UV instability. We have recently shown that stable and cost-effective cement-based materials can be designed to be suitable radiative coolers for solar cells. However, we have done so in line with the literature, by modeling the solar cell in the radiative limit and neglecting the thermal contact resistance at the cell/cooler interface, which might actually be large enough to hinder heat transfer because of the poor adhesion properties of cement-based materials. In this work, we have generalized the model used to assess radiative coolers by incorporating solar cell non-radiative losses (Auger, Shockley-Read-Hall) and a thermal barrier between cell and cooler. The final model provides a description of the thermal behavior of a solar cell with radiative cooler closer to reality, while preserving the transparency of the detailed-balance approach, that has allowed us to better assess these systems and provide design guidelines, with focus on cement-based radiative coolers.