Development of a Water-Based PV Cooling System A Cooling System

Efficiency is one of the most important characteristics of a solar panel. It is the ability of the solar panel to convert light energy to electrical energy. One of the factors that affect the solar efficiency is the temperature. As the temperature increases, the solar panel's efficiency decreases. Thus, the proponents developed a power effective, sustainable, and cost-effective cooling system that keeps the solar panel's temperature low by sprinkling water on the surface of the solar panel using an Arduino Microcontroller. After series of testing and evaluation, the cooling system was able to increase the efficiency up to 22.14% with a minimal water loss of 0.31% per hour. The cooling agent used which is the water was also found to be a reliable cooling agent since it only reached 23.49°C after four days of testing.