Abstract
Methods of cooling monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules with water vaporizing are analysed in the paper regarding the effects of temperature on performance and its economic relations. Since water usage may present a significant cost the aim of the research was to create a cooling system that operates without loss of flowing water. Results are evaluated from technical and economic points of view in relation to several countries based on systems with 5kW capacity. Ideal setting of spray heads at 2bar pressure was achieved with a distance of 0.26m between the spray heads. In our experiment, a temperature following procedure was tested manually. Due to this procedure, the surface of the module can be cooled with an average temperature value that is calculated after cooling, depending on the temperature of the control solar module. Analysing the daily data of monthly production the number of “ideal days” in a given month were estimated. Comparing the temperature decrease as a result of vaporization measured in summer and in autumn showed no significant difference. The results achieved confirm the connection between temperature change and efficiency change of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules (0.5%/1°C), discussed in previous scientific literature. Effective application of solar module cooling systems is around 10–15% more expensive than the cost of systems without cooling. In general, under current economic conditions the operation of cooled solar modules is viable mainly in South European countries.
Highlights
Since the energy demand of mankind increases continuously, utilization of renewable energy resources is increasingly important besides reducing environmental effects
The results achieved confirmed former statements of the literature that there is a high correlation between the change of temperature and efficiency (0.5%/1 °C) in the cases of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules
Effective application of solar module cooling requires significant investment costs (874–1136 EUR) even in the studied residential size that makes non cooled solar PV systems 10–15% more expensive
Summary
Since the energy demand of mankind increases continuously, utilization of renewable energy resources is increasingly important besides reducing environmental effects. Solar energy is a clean and sustainable energy resource available in huge volume with greatest potential for all humans (Sahu, 2015; Hosenuzzaman et al, 2015). Around 8 Á 108 TW h energy arrives to the surface of the Earth from the Sun each year equalling a potential around 8000 times greater than the energy demand of the world (Roth, 2005). In recent years the distribution of solar modules developed rapidly mainly due to decreasing production costs, fast technological development and state support introduced in several countries. Nowadays the production costs of the photovoltaic (PV) systems and their price is decreasing as well so the installation of the PV systems has shorter return time of investment.
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