Electrical performance evaluation of PV panel through water cooling technique

This paper presents the development of a cooling apparatus using water in a commercial photovoltaic panel in order to analyze the increased efficiency through decreased operating temperature. The system enables the application of reuse water flow, at ambient temperature, over the front surface of PV panel and is composed of an inclined plane support, a perforated aluminum profile and a water gutter. A luminaire was specially developed to simulate the solar radiation over the module under test in a closed room, free from the influence of external climatic conditions, to carry out the repetition of the experiment in controlled situations. In the test conditions without cooling apparatus, the panel reached about 70°C and produced approximately 62Wh. With the cooling apparatus, the module reached about 50°C and produced approximately 77Wh. Through use of this cooling system the photovoltaic module showed a net enhancement in the power conversion efficiency of 16.66%.