Abstract
A photovoltaic (PV) module’s electrical efficiency depends on the operating temperature of the cell. Electrical efficiency reduces with increasing PV module temperature which is one of the drawbacks of this technology. This is due to the negative temperature coefficient of a PV module which decreases its voltage significantly while the current increases slightly. This study combines both active and passive cooling mechanisms to improve the electrical output of a PV module. A heat sink made up of aluminum fins and an ultrasonic humidifier were used to cool the panel. The ultrasonic humidifier was used to generate a humid environment at the rear side of the PV module. The cooling process in the study was able to reduce the temperature of the panel averagely by 14.61 °C. This reduction led to a 6.8% improvement in the electrical efficiency of the module. The average power of 12.23 W was recorded for the cooled panel against 10.87 W for the referenced module. In terms of water consumption, a total of 1.5 L was approximately consumed during the whole experimental process due to evaporation. In effect, the proposed cooling approach was demonstrated as effective.
Highlights
Economic development coupled with the increasing population growth has led to an upsurge in primary energy consumption at a rate of about +1.6 percent each year [1].This necessitates the need to find alternative clean, cheap, and reliable energy sources other than the current fossil fuels that dominate the global energy market
If the fight to reduce the negative impact of greenhouse gases on the environment, such as biodiversity loss, climate change and global warming, is to be achieved, it is important to minimize the use of fossil fuels and replace them with renewable energy (RE)
In order to increase the efficiency of the temperature reduction process using fins, this study proposed the addition of an ultrasonic humidifier to create a humid environment at the back surface of the panel to enhance the cooling process
Summary
Economic development coupled with the increasing population growth has led to an upsurge in primary energy consumption at a rate of about +1.6 percent each year [1]. This resulted in an improvement of 30.3% in the power output of the cooled panel It is evident from the reviewed papers that finding of an appropriate mechanism to manage the thermal aspect of PV modules cannot be underestimated, especially during this period when there is much conversation on the need to find alternative sources of energy. Solar PV is identified as one of the solutions to help realize this vision; the linear dependence of its performance on the module’s temperature was always seen as a minus to this technology It is for this reason that this study was conducted to provide another alternative to the various cooling mechanisms suggested by various.
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