Enhancement of PV and concentered PV panels using evaporative cooling during summer and winter seasons: A case study in Egypt

Abstract

Numerous efforts are made to comprehend the performance evolution of photovoltaic (PV) panels. The elevated surface temperature causes a deterioration in PV panels' performance, hindering the expected increase in harvested energy associated with integrating solar reflectors. In this context, the year-round efficacy of cooling PV panels supported by reflective mirrors is investigated to assess the effectiveness of solar reflector implementation. A conventional PV panel, a CPV (cooled PV panel), and a CCPV (concentrated cooled PV panel) were compared side-by-side to determine their relative performance and energy productivity. Evaporative cooling pads are utilized to chill the two modified PV systems by varying the coolant flow rate during the summer and winter seasons of 2022 and 2023, respectively, in the environmental conditions of the Tenth of Ramadan City, Egypt. The findings indicate that the average daily power increment ratio (PIR) for CPV ranges from 4.7 % up to 7.4 %, while CCPV ranges from 6.7 % to 12 % for different climate conditions year-round. Finally, changing the setup configuration from CPV to CCPV increased the (PIR) 1.5 times during the summer tests and 1.7 times during the winter tests.

Keywords

• PV performance
• PV enhancement
• Concentrated PV
• PV cooling
• Evaporative cooling