Experimental Study of Using Passive Cooling of the Photovoltaic Module Under Hot Climate Conditions

Abstract

Exposure of the photovoltaic (PV) module to more quantity of solar radiation with high ambient temperatures during operation causes their overheating that decreases the output power and efficiency of the PV module. The present study investigates the influence of using rectangular aluminium fins (RAFs), cotton wicks with water (CWWs) attached at the backside as passive cooling on productivity, efficiency, and thermal behavior of the photovoltaic PV modules. The experiments were conducted in three cases under hot weather conditions to characterize the better performance of the PV module with the use of passive cooling. The experiment results indicate that the used CWWs achieved better cooling for the PV module due to the moist condition of the cotton bristles immersed in water which provided adequate cooling that enhanced performance. On the other hand, a limited improvement was obtained in the PV module performance by used RAFs due to an increment in the surface area of the heat transfer of the PV module. A significant deterioration in the PV module performance without cooling negatively affected the performance.