Impact of various cooling methods on photovoltaic performance: an experimental investigation

In this paper, three photovoltaic (PV) cooling systems are examined. The three cooling systems are (1) a PV frontside passive air (FPA) cooling system that relies on the chimney effect of air to cool the PV module, (2) a PV frontside active water (FAW) cooling where water flows in frontside of the P...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of thermal analysis and calorimetry 2024-07, Vol.149 (14), p.7651-7664
Main Authors: Alsayegh, Khader M., Qaisieh, Alaa, Hamdan, Mohammad O., Abu-Nabah, Bassam A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analytical Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Cooling
Cooling systems
Heat sinks
Inorganic Chemistry
Measurement Science and Instrumentation
Photodegradation
Photovoltaic cells
Physical Chemistry
Polymer Sciences
Thermal energy
Thickness measurement
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Summary:In this paper, three photovoltaic (PV) cooling systems are examined. The three cooling systems are (1) a PV frontside passive air (FPA) cooling system that relies on the chimney effect of air to cool the PV module, (2) a PV frontside active water (FAW) cooling where water flows in frontside of the PV panel, and (3) a PV backside active water (BAW) cooling system where water flows in a heatsink (collector) attached to the backside of the PV module. While comparing to the standalone PV, the FPA, FAW and BAW systems have cooled the PV surface temperature by 2.1, 22.4 and 17.8 °C, respectively. The FPA and BAW systems improved the PV electric efficiency by 0.84 and 6.86%, respectively; while, the FAW system degraded the PV efficiency by 26.27 % . The spectrometer measurement showed that the plexiglass and water thickness significantly lower the transmission of ultraviolet and visible light waves to the PV module. In contrast, the FAW system produced water with higher thermal content than that of the BAW system. The results show that to maximize electrical power output, BAW system is recommended, while to maximize thermal energy collection, FAW system is recommended.
ISSN:1388-6150
1588-2926
DOI:10.1007/s10973-024-13315-0