A new approach to cooling photovoltaic panels: Electrospray cooling

Abstract

In recent years, rise in carbon emissions has increased the focus on renewable energy. Solar energy systems are widely used for energy production due to their easy applicability and being an unlimited resource. There are factors affecting the efficiency of these systems. One of the most prominent of these is temperature. Enabling thermal control of the solar panels not only increases their electrical efficiency but also extends their economic life. In this study, electrospray cooling, which is not found to be used in the literature for cooling PV panels, was analyzed. Electrospray cooling performance in PV panels was examined for different flow rates and irradiance values using water as the coolant fluid. As a result, it was determined that the optimum flow rate was 80 ml/h water flow rate, and the panel temperature at this flow rate was reduced from approximately 77 °C–32.2 °C at 1200 W/m2 radiation. The output power obtained increased by 56.6 % at optimum flow rate and radiation. Compared to the studies in which PV panels were cooled by spray, it was found that electrospray requires approximately 1.5–137 times less water.

Keywords

• Electrospray cooling
• PV panel
• Solar energy
• Electrical efficiency