Experimental and Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Water Cooling on the Temperature Distribution of Photovoltaic Modules Using Copper Pipes

Abstract

In hot climates, PV efficiency drops dramatically if the surface temperature of the panels rises over a specific limit. Consequently, a cooling system is required to preserve PV modules as close to their operating temperature as feasible. For this purpose, the influence of an increase in PV surface temperature on PV performance was studied experimentally and numerically at the Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI) in July. The current study uses a cooling system consisting of rows of copper pipes connected to the PV backside. The experiments are conducted for four distinct scenarios, each with a different input fluid temperature ranging from 19.5 to 61 °C. The parametric analysis focuses on three influential factors: ambient temperature, solar radiation, and fluid inlet temperatures. In addition, other inputs are configured in accordance with the experimental conditions. The results showed that installing a cooling water system decreased the PV surface temperature from 60.20 °C to 40.24 °C at 9:00 am and from 73.98 °C to 73.33 °C at 1:30 pm. Furthermore, the electrical, thermal, overall, and exergy efficiencies drop as radiation intensity and water inlet temperature increase. In addition, the numerical results are validated with the experimental ones, and it shows high degrees of concordance.