Transactions on Innovations in Science & Technology

Volume.5, Issue.2, 2021, pp.380-383

ISSN: 2456-5075, www.transistonline.com

Study of solar photovoltaic and different type of cooling system used in

photovoltaic solar system
Pooja Rai1,*, Devesh Kumar1, Sanjay1

1Department of Mechanical Engineering, Madan Mohan Malviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh,
273010, India

*Corresponding author email: pujarai636@gmail.com Tel.: +91 7905948322

ABSTRACT

Cooling the working surface is a critical operational issue to consider while running solar photovoltaic systems for
efficiency improvements. Proper cooling can boost electrical conversion efficiency while also slowing the rate of cell
breakdown over time, extending the life of solar modules. This report provided an overview of different approaches that
used for minimizing the adverse effects of higher temperature and trying to upgrade the power output production
performance of solar photovoltaic panels running above the Standard Test Conditions' recommended temperature (STC).
Enhancing the performance of photovoltaic solar panels via make use of phase-change materials; with water immersion
cooling method; Solar PV panel cooled by employing nanofluid; Hybrid solar Photovoltaic/Thermal system cooled by
forced air circulation; and Solar panel with Thermoelectric cooling process are all mentioned. A number of research
publications are evaluated and classified based on their emphasis, contribution, and solar panel cooling technology. This
study found that any suitable cooling technology for solar panels should keep the operating surface temperature low and
steady, be simple and reliable, and, if possible, allow the utilization of extracted thermal heat to improve total conversion
efficiency. The result of this paper is discussed in detail in the conclusion section.

Keywords - Solar Energy, Photovoltaic Panel, Cooling technologies, Efficiency

1. INTRODUCTION Solar panels are most widely accepted as a method of

The sun is the solar system's most powerful source of
energy. In fact, the sun provides more energy to the earth
in an hour than the entire globe consumes annually and
that every biological thing on the planet, including
bacteria down in the ocean's darkest corners, is reliant on
the sun for survival. Solar energy technology allows use
of the sun's power for human benefit. the modern era
shows a picture of rising oil costs and the scarcity nature
energy as well as fossil fuels. Today, human race is
compelled to search an alternative source of energy to
ensure its long-term viability; as a consequence,
renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and
geothermal energies, among others, keep the most
promising and bright future ahead of them, and as a
result, they have attracted global attention. Solar
renewable energy is the most intriguing and promising
source, and it can help fulfil rising energy demands while
conserving diminishing fossil fuel resources. Specialized
cells have been constructed to harvest solar radiations to
their fullest potential, converting solar radiations into
direct current. such levels are described as photovoltaic
cells, and they are composed of semiconductor material
that helps convert the radiations into DC
1.1 SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC
generating electric electricity by converting solar energy
into flowing electrons to generate an electric current.
Photovoltaic cells are semiconductor-based appliance
that transform sunlight energy straight into electrical
energy. When the sunlight rays reach to solar cells, they
shatter and release electrons within material, which as
consequence start up to produce an electrical current
(DC) or electrical energy. Photovoltaic cells are made
of silicon and come in three different varieties:
monocrystalline, multicrystalline, and amorphous
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
[1] Ali Al Shehi et.al 2016, had presented a work based
on the effect of dust layering and water less brush-based
cleaning on transmittance of glass through PV modules.
They had found that dust layer hinders the transmittance
solar energy. They studied percentage improvement in
performance after applying brush-based cleaning
without the use of water. Different type of brush such as
soft cloth brush, long bristles brush had been used. It was
found that different cleaning medium resulted favorable
improvement in efficiency of panel.
[2] Yousefi et al. 2012, The effect of adding nano-Al2O3
(0.2 and 0.4 percent by weight of 15 nm size) to water

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and using the resulting suspension as a cooling fluid
instead of water was investigated. The findings
study indicated that when 0.2 percent of nano alumina
was added through weighing, the efficiency of the
system utilizing nanofluids was improved by 28.3
percent when compared to water as a cooling fluid.
[2] Tabae et al. 2015, presented their work on efficiency
improvement of a system having water pump system
assisted by photovoltaic module. The set-up was
integrated with reflectors for boosting solar intensity and
simultaneously a water film was applied over PV cell.
The output power supply of PV cell assisted by reflector
is 77.6 watt. Reflector was made up of thin foil of
aluminum. Application of reflector along with water film
has improved power generation efficiency by 50% by
keeping lower temperature of PV panels.
[3] Hamdan and Kardasi19 carried out the
experimentally investigated by comparing the overall
performance of three identical type PV modules; with
different cooling medium 1. without cooling, pure water,
and with nanofluids (CuO-water and Al2O3-water with
wt fraction ranging from 0.1%-0.7%) respectively. The
final result revealed that at 0.4% Al2O3 concentration,
the greatest difference was found between the backside
temperatures of the cooled modules and noncooled
modules was 22.67 C, with a 12.06 percent increase in
the electrical efficiency. However, with a CuO
concentration of 0.6 percent, the temperature of
difference backside of module temperature with cooled
and non-cooling modules was 22.13 C, with a 12.57%
increment in the electrical Efficiency. Module-1 had a
maximum backside temperature of 46.9℃, while
module-2 had a maximum backside temperature of
24.93℃.
[4] Najafi and Woodbury et.al 2013, Investigated a
method of cooling PV cell with the help of Peltier effect.
This thermoelectric method of cooling is attached with
PV cell in backside. Two different approaches had been
opted to consider the suggested system. 1. This
thermoelectric cooling is applied to reduce temperature
of PV cell in working limits. 2. Finding optimal current
which is suitable for thermoelectric cooling of
photovoltaic module using genetic algorithm.
[5] Van Sark 2011, shown that the thermoelectric
converter module may boost the EL of the roof-
integrated photovoltaic module by up to 23%.
[6] Moharram et.al 2019, presented their work on novel
cooling method of PV cell by using spray technology.
Water is used as coolant. Heating and cooling rate of
models had been used. They had found that maximum
amount of output is obtained when cooling of PV panel
started after it reached maximum limit of allowable
temperature which is 45°C. This allowable temperature
limit is an optimum value obtained by satisfying the
condition of output energy from photovoltaic panel and
energy required for cooling.
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[7] Abdolzadeh et.al 2009, evaluated performance of the
two (45 × 2 W) of 225 W with water pumping unit which
used for spraying of water over the PV cells. By
employing water spraying of over PV modules over the
PV module surface. It has been found that this method
provided great improve the system and subsystem
efficiencies. Consequently, the system has achieved a
12.5% overall efficiency of PV modules during the
examination day.
[8] Mehrotra et al. 2014 conducted experiment for
improvement of energy efficiency of solar panel. For
that, he used to immerge the panel into water and put the
panel in different water depths to see which depth of
water was suitable for getting optimum depth which will
give maximum energy efficiency. The final conclusion
was that when he placed the solar panel at a depth of 1
meter of water, there was 4.26% increment in the
maximum energy of the solar panel was found.
3. WORKING PRINCIPAL
Solar PV cell is determined as semiconductor electrical
device that directly convert sunlight energy into electric
power through the photovoltaic electric effect. The solar
panel module is consisting of layer of semiconductor
Silicon cell, tempered glass casing, aluminum frame,
junction box and several wiring to permit the flow of
electric current from the solar cell. When the photon of
Sunlight hit with the solar cell that was absorbed by the
semiconductor Silicon cell, which cause motion in the
negative charged electron form their atom, due to this
flow of electric current are begin. The direction of flow
of electron motion and produced current are same. This
process is known as photovoltaics effect.
Fig.1 Working of solar panel [9]
4. EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE:
As we know the Solar PV cell change the light energy
into electric power for electrical energy but the sunlight
not carries only the light energy but it also carries the heat
energy. solar PV cell will work carried out a great
performance when it acquires more of light however
when it obtained get heat in a lot of extent then its power
yield production got become deteriorate Solar cell little
bit sensitive about heat temperature, the temperature gets
 Transactions on Innovations in Science & Technology, 2021, 5 (2), 380-383

increase the lesser the performance that means it

efficiency get decreased .Solar panel are not at best
behaviors when they become hot while solar PV are
amazing device that produce electricity so, Main Where, I is short circuit current, J maximum current
obstacles that face the operation of the PV panel is Density and A is the area of solar cell.
overheating PV modules which decreases conversion
electrical efficiency because, in every 1 °C surface t rise 5.3 Fill Factor of Solar Cell
in temperature of the PV module source a depletion in
efficiency of 0.5%. Therefore, to prevent the PV module
The ratio of the solar cell's short circuit current and open
cell from thermal degradation and harm an efficient
circuit voltage to the product of current and voltage at
cooling system is required to boost solar cell’s
maximum power point.
productivity and when the running temperature of solar
PV cell increased at the same time there was a linear
there was noticeable linear decrement in the PV cell
voltage are noticed. Solar cells were highly dedicated to
temperature. When increases in temperature will shorten 5.4 Efficiency
the band gap of a semiconductor, thereby affecting most
the ratio of useful electrical energy they produce to the
of the semiconductor material parameters. A reduction in
amount of solar energy incident on the cell.
a semiconductor's band gap as temperature rises might
be perceived as an increase in the energy of the material's
electrons.

6. THE FACTORS THAT AFFECT SOLAR

PANELS’ EFFICIENCY

6.1 Temperature: -

Due to the inherent characteristics of the semiconductors,

temperature has an impact on the efficiency of
photovoltaic cells. As the voltage reduces Photovoltaic
Panel in module, the efficiency of the solar panels
increases.
Fig.2 Effect of temperature [10]

As a result, less energy is required to break the
connection. Reduced bond energy reduces the band gap
in the bond model of a semiconductor band gap. As a
result, increasing the temperature lowers the band gap,
lowering the open circuit voltage and increasing
electron-hole recombination. There was a noticeable
linear decrement in the PV cell voltage when the running
temperature of the solar PV cell increased at the same
time, but there was a large linear increase in the PV
5. CHARACTERISTICS AND PARAMETERS
OF A SOLAR CELL
5.1 Open Circuit Voltage of Solar Cell
It is determined by measuring the voltage across the cell's
terminals when no load is attached. This voltage is
determined by manufacturing techniques and
temperature.
5.2 Short Circuit Current of Solar Cell
It is determined by shorting the terminals of the cell at
the cell's most optimal condition for maximal output.
6.2 Energy Conversion Efficiency: -
The solar photovoltaic module's spectrum response
varies depending to its kind. As a consequence, spectral
irradiance variations have an effect on solar output power
production. By reducing incident light reflection, the
performance of energy generation is enhanced.
6.3 The Orientation, Inclination, Latitude of The
Place and Climatic Conditions: -
When installing photovoltaic modules, it is important to
take into account the direction, inclination, latitude of the
site, and meteorological factors in order to get the most
out of the solar radiation. Correct evaluation of these
variations will guarantee that they generate the greatest
amount of energy when exposed to the highest intensity
of solar radiation for the longest period of time.
6.4 Maintenance
Solar panels have extremely long-lasting life span, with
warranties of 15 to 25 years. Cleaning solar panels, on
the other hand, is critical in order to optimize the quantity
of light that can be change into electrical power. Regular

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Physical examination can help solar panels absorb light
more effectively.
7. TYPES OF COOLING TECHNIQUES
7.1 Active cooling
To perform active cooling, the operating system uses the
external cooling device, such as a fan by the devices in a
thermal zone. Power consumption was high when the
active cooling system used.
7.2 Passive cooling
Passive cooling techniques is that it extracts the heat by
natural mode of conduction or Convection without
applying external work.
8. RESEARCH GAP
a. Rare research papers were available on cooling
techniques photovoltaic cell by using nano
fluid.
b. Maximum research paper on water-based
cooling techniques.
c. By using nano fluid there are very rare research
paper available on finding the efficiency
performance of PV cell.
d. There is only cleaning process is done by using
nano fluid not finding the efficiency
performance.
4.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
Based on the available literature survey discussed above
many gaps are observed and following objectives are
proposed for our research work.: Focus to find best PV
cooling techniques which can clean and cooling solar
panel effectively, by using nano fluid there are very rare
research paper on finding the efficiency performance of
PV cell.
5. CONCLUSION
From the above cooling approaches, it is clear that a
photovoltaic cooling system has a noticeable effect on
the efficiency and output of solar panels. Among the
many methods available, some provide a substantial
increase in efficiency and are widely recognised. Besides
adding a cooling system to the photovoltaic major
problem still exists that much water should be flown so
as to achieve the highest efficiency of solar panels so due
to this too much water is wasted, to address this issue, we
decided to propose a new concept of applying
optimization methods to cooling systems, which
involves the use of various types of nano fluid for cooling
purposes and to enhance the performance of solar panels.
Its help in attaining the highest possible efficiency. This
also contributes to water conservation when the solar
panel is functioning.
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6. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This experimental work has been carried out by me. It is
pleasure to convey my gratitude and indebtedness to my
supervisor Dr. Devesh Kumar for their valuable advice
and guidance.
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