Experimental Investigation of Cooling Photovoltaic Panel Using Turbo-Ventilator

Abstract

Solar panels are devices which is used to convert solar energy into electric power. The design of solar panels allows them to soak up as much sunlight as possible, which raises the temperature of the panels. Increases in the module surface temperature of solar PV panels have been shown to decrease power production and shorten the lifespan of solar cell components. The purpose of this research is to determine the feasibility of employing a turbo ventilator to remove heat from solar PV panels from their rear sides. The observations for the present study are taken every 15 min from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for 10 days, while the panel is tilted at an angle of 35°. Throughout the experiment, the average ambient temperature was 29 °C, and the average wind speed was 1 m/s. Results reveal that with natural convection, the average panel temperature is 58.87 °C. When we employed the turbo ventilator, the average temperature of the panel drops about 15.55% and is observed at about 54 °C. The output power of the PV panel was improved by 2.56%.