Enhancement of energy transfer efficiency for photovoltaic (PV) systems by cooling the panel surfaces

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2021.238700

Keywords:

temperature effects on PV, cooling techniques, solar photovoltaic PV, thermal simulation, passive air cooling

Abstract

The thermal coefficient of a solar photovoltaic (PV) panel is a value that is provided with its specification sheet and tells us precisely the drop in panel performance with rising temperature. In desert climates, the PV panel temperatures are known to reach above 70 degrees centigrade. Exploring effective methods of increasing energy transfer efficiency is the issue that attracts researchers nowadays, which also contributes to reducing the cost of using solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with storage batteries. Temperature handling of solar PV modules is one of the techniques that improve the performance of such systems by cooling the bottom surface of the PV panels. This study initially reviews the effective methods of cooling the solar modules to select a proper, cost-effective, and easy to implement one. An active fan-based cooling method is considered in this research to make ventilation underneath the solar module. A portion of the output power at a prespecified high level of battery state-of-charge (SOC) is used to feed the fans. The developed comparator circuit is used to control the power ON/OFF of the fans. A Matlab-based simulation is employed to demonstrate the power rate improvements and that consumed by the fans. The results of simulations show that the presented approach can achieve significant improvements in the efficiency of PV systems that have storage batteries. The proposed method is demonstrated and evaluated for a 1.62 kW PV system. It is found from a simultaneous practical experiment on two identical PV panels of 180 W over a full day that the energy with the cooling system was 823.4 Wh, while that without cooling was 676 Wh. The adopted approach can play a role in enhancing energy sustainability.

Author Biographies

Hasan Shakir Majdi, Al-Mustaqbal University College

Doctor of Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Industries

Department of Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Industries

Mahmoud A. Mashkour, University of Technology

Doctor of Mechanical Engineering

Department ofMechanical Engineering

Laith Jaafer Habeeb, University of Technology

Doctor of Heat Transfer and Studies

Training and Workshop Center

Ahmad H. Sabry, Universiti Tenaga Nasional

Doctor of Control and Automation

Institute of Sustainable Energy

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Published

2021-08-31

How to Cite

Majdi, H. S., Mashkour, M. A., Habeeb, L. J., & Sabry, A. H. (2021). Enhancement of energy transfer efficiency for photovoltaic (PV) systems by cooling the panel surfaces. Eastern-European Journal of Enterprise Technologies, 4(8(112), 83–89. https://doi.org/10.15587/1729-4061.2021.238700

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 8(112) (2021): Energy-saving technologies and equipment

Section

Energy-saving technologies and equipment

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Copyright (c) 2021 Hasan Shakir Majdi, Mahmoud A. Mashkour, Laith Jaafer Habeeb, Ahmad H. Sabry

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