Efficiency Enhancement of Photovoltaic Panels Using an Optimised Air Cooled Heat Sink
Solar panels that use photovoltaic (PV) cells are popular
for converting solar radiation into electricity. One of the major
problems impacting the performance of PV panels is the overheating
caused by excessive solar radiation and high ambient temperatures,
which degrades the efficiency of the PV panels remarkably. To
overcome this issue, an aluminum heat sink was used to dissipate
unwanted heat from PV cells. The dimensions of the heat sink were
determined considering the optimal fin spacing that fulfils hot climatic
conditions. In this study, the effects of cooling on the efficiency
and power output of a PV panel were studied experimentally. Two
PV modules were used: one without and one with a heat sink. The
experiments ran for 11 hours from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. where
temperature readings in the rear and front of both PV modules were
recorded at an interval of 15 minutes using sensors and an Arduino
microprocessor. Results are recorded for both panels simultaneously
for analysis, temperate comparison, and for power and efficiency
calculations. A maximum increase in the solar to electrical conversion
efficiency of 35% and almost 55% in the power output were achieved
with the use of a heat sink, while temperatures at the front and back
of the panel were reduced by 9% and 11%, respectively.
[1] M. Ramadhan and A. Hussain, “Kuwait energy profile for electrical
power generation,” Strategic planning for energy and the environment,
vol. 32, pp. 18–25, 2012.
[2] A. A. Otaibi and S. A. Jandal, “Solar photovoltaic power in the state of
kuwait,” in 2011 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. IEEE,
2011, pp. 003 091–003 096.
[3] A. A. Ghoneim, I. M. Kadad, and M. S. Altouq, “Statistical analysis of
solar uvb and global radiation in kuwait,” Energy, vol. 60, pp. 23–34,
2013.
[4] L. Ouhsaine, A. Mimet, M. E. Ganaoui, A. Scipioni, and Y. Kharbouch,
“Transient thermal analyse of mini heat sink pv cells cooling for
hot climate,” in 2014 International Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Conference (IRSEC). IEEE, 2014, pp. 70–77.
[5] E. Radziemska, “The effect of temperature on the power drop in
crystalline silicon solar cells,” Renewable energy, vol. 28, pp. 1–12,
2003.
[6] E. Skoplaki and J. A. Palyvos, “On the temperature dependence
of photovoltaic module electrical performance: A review of
efficiency/power correlations,” Solar energy, vol. 83, pp. 614–624,
2009.
[7] M. El-Adawi and I. Al-Nuaim, “The temperature functional dependence
of voc for a solar cell in relation to its efficiency new approach,”
Desalination, vol. 209, pp. 91–96, 2007.
[8] E. Radziemska and E. Klugmann, “Thermally affected parameters of the
current–voltage characteristics of silicon photocell,” Energy Conversion
and Management, vol. 43, pp. 1889–1900, 2002.
[9] E. Cuce and T. Bali, “Variation of cell parameters of a p-si pv cell with
different solar irradiances and cell temperatures in humid climates,” in
Fourth international exergy, energy and environment symposium, 2009,
pp. 19–23.
[10] U. J. Rajput and J. Yang, “Comparison of heat sink and water type PV/T
collector for polycrystalline photovoltaic panel cooling,” Renewable
energy, vol. 116, pp. 479–491, 2018.
[11] E. Cuce, T. Bali, and S. A. Sekucoglu, “Effects of passive cooling
on performance of silicon photovoltaic cells,” International Journal of
Low-Carbon Technologies, vol. 6, pp. 299–308, 2011.
[12] R. S. Kumar, N. P. Priyadharshini, and E. Natarajan, “Experimental
and numerical analysis of photovoltaic solar panel using thermoelectric
cooling,” Indian Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 8, pp. 252–256,
2015.
[13] S. Sargunanathan, A. Elango, and S. T. Mohideen, “Performance
enhancement of solar photovoltaic cells using effective cooling methods:
A review,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 64, pp.
382–393, 2016.
[14] J. Siecker, K. Kusakana, and B. P. Numbi, “A review of solar
photovoltaic systems cooling technologies,” Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, vol. 79, pp. 192–203, 2017.
[15] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, A. Phinikarides, M. Schubert, and G. E.
Georghiou, “Temperature and thermal annealing effects on different
photovoltaic technologies,” Renewable Energy, vol. 43, pp. 407–417,
2012. [16] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, M. Norton, and G. E. Georghiou, “Performance
of photovoltaics under actual operating conditions,” Third generation
photovoltaics, pp. 201–232, 2012.
[17] J. K. Kaldellis, M. Kapsali, and K. A. Kavadias, “Temperature and wind
speed impact on the efficiency of pv installations. experience obtained
from outdoor measurements in greece,” Renewable Energy, vol. 66, pp.
612–624, 2014.
[18] L. V. Mercaldo, M. L. Addonizio, M. D. Noce, P. D. Veneri,
A. Scognamiglio, and C. Privato, “Thin film silicon photovoltaics:
Architectural perspectives and technological issues,” Applied Energy,
vol. 86, pp. 1836–1844, 2009.
[19] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, G. E. Georghiou, M. Schubert, and J. H.
Werner, “Temperature behaviour of different photovoltaic systems
installed in cyprus and germany,” Solar energy materials and solar cells,
vol. 93, pp. 1095–1099, 2009.
[20] A. Virtuani, H. M¨ullejans, and E. D.Dunlop, “Comparison of indoor and
outdoor performance measurements of recent commercially available
solar modules,” Progress in photovoltaics: Research and Applications,
vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 11–20, 2011.
[21] H. Chen, X. Chen, S. Li, and H. Ding, “Comparative study on the
performance improvement of photovoltaic panel with passive cooling
under natural ventilation,” International journal of smart grid and clean
energy, no. 4, pp. 374–379, 2014.
[22] S. Odeh and M. Behnia, “Improving photovoltaic module efficiency
using water cooling,” Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 30, pp. 499–505,
2009.
[23] A. Kordzadeh, “The effects of nominal power of array and system head
on the operation of photovoltaic water pumping set with array surface
covered by a film of water,” Renewable energy, vol. 35, pp. 1098–1102,
2010.
[24] L. Dorobant¸u and M. O. Popescu, “Increasing the efficiency of
photovoltaic panels through cooling water film,” UPB Sci. Bull., Series
C, vol. 75, 2013.
[25] A. Aldihani, A. Aldossary, S. Mahmoud, and R. K. Al-Dadah, “The
effect of cooling on the performance of photovoltaic cells under dusty
environmental conditions,” Energy Procedia, vol. 61, pp. 2383–2386,
2014.
[26] M. Y. Irwan, W. Z. Leow, M. Irwanto, A. R. Amelia, N. Gomesh, and
I. Safwati, “Indoor test performance of pv panel through water cooling
method,” Energy Procedia, vol. 79, pp. 604–611, 2015.
[27] H. G. Teo, P. S. Lee, and M. N. A. Hawlader, “An active cooling system
for photovoltaic modules,” applied energy, vol. 90, pp. 309–315, 2012.
[28] A. A. Tarabsheh, S. Voutetakisb, A. I. Papadopoulosb, P. Seferlisb,
I. Etiera, and O. Saraereha, “Investigation of temperature effects in
efficiency improvement of non-uniformly cooled photovoltaic cells,”
Chemical Engineering Transactions, vol. 35, 2013.
[29] H. Bahaidarah, A. Subhan, P. Gandhidasan, and S. Rehman,
“Performance evaluation of a pv (photovoltaic) module by back surface
water cooling for hot climatic conditions,” Energy, vol. 59, pp. 445–453,
2013.
[30] J. K. Tonui and Y. Tripanagnostopoulos, “Air-cooled PV/T solar
collectors with low cost performance improvements,” Solar energy,
vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 498–511, 2007.
[31] L. Idoko, O. Anaya-Lara, and A. McDonald, “Enhancing pv modules
efficiency and power output using multi-concept cooling technique,”
Energy Reports, vol. 4, pp. 357–369, 2018.
[32] A. Bejan, G. Tsatsaronis, and M. Moran, Thermal design and
optimization. John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
[33] A. Bar-Cohen and M. Iyengar, “Design and optimization of air-cooled
heat sinks for sustainable development,” IEEE transactions on
components and packaging technologies, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 584–591,
2002.
[34] A. Bar-Cohen, M. Iyengar, and A. D. Kraus, “Design of optimum
plate-fin natural convective heat sinks,” Journal of Electronic Packaging,
vol. 125, no. 2, pp. 208–216, 2003.
[35] V. Sethi, K. Sumathy, S. Yuvarajan, and D. Pal, “Mathematical model
for computing maximum power output of a pv solar module and
experimental validation,” Journal of fundamentals of renewable energy
and applications, vol. 2, 2012.
[36] S. Dubey, J. N. Sarvaiya, and B. Seshadri, “Temperature dependent
photovoltaic (pv) efficiency and its effect on pv production in the
world–a review,” Energy Procedia, vol. 33, pp. 311–321, 2013.
[37] D. L. Evans, “Simplified method for predicting photovoltaic array
output,” Solar energy, vol. 27, pp. 555–560, 1981.
[38] T. Hove, “A method for predicting long-term average performance of
photovoltaic systems,” Renewable Energy, vol. 21, pp. 207–229, 2000.
[1] M. Ramadhan and A. Hussain, “Kuwait energy profile for electrical
power generation,” Strategic planning for energy and the environment,
vol. 32, pp. 18–25, 2012.
[2] A. A. Otaibi and S. A. Jandal, “Solar photovoltaic power in the state of
kuwait,” in 2011 37th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference. IEEE,
2011, pp. 003 091–003 096.
[3] A. A. Ghoneim, I. M. Kadad, and M. S. Altouq, “Statistical analysis of
solar uvb and global radiation in kuwait,” Energy, vol. 60, pp. 23–34,
2013.
[4] L. Ouhsaine, A. Mimet, M. E. Ganaoui, A. Scipioni, and Y. Kharbouch,
“Transient thermal analyse of mini heat sink pv cells cooling for
hot climate,” in 2014 International Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Conference (IRSEC). IEEE, 2014, pp. 70–77.
[5] E. Radziemska, “The effect of temperature on the power drop in
crystalline silicon solar cells,” Renewable energy, vol. 28, pp. 1–12,
2003.
[6] E. Skoplaki and J. A. Palyvos, “On the temperature dependence
of photovoltaic module electrical performance: A review of
efficiency/power correlations,” Solar energy, vol. 83, pp. 614–624,
2009.
[7] M. El-Adawi and I. Al-Nuaim, “The temperature functional dependence
of voc for a solar cell in relation to its efficiency new approach,”
Desalination, vol. 209, pp. 91–96, 2007.
[8] E. Radziemska and E. Klugmann, “Thermally affected parameters of the
current–voltage characteristics of silicon photocell,” Energy Conversion
and Management, vol. 43, pp. 1889–1900, 2002.
[9] E. Cuce and T. Bali, “Variation of cell parameters of a p-si pv cell with
different solar irradiances and cell temperatures in humid climates,” in
Fourth international exergy, energy and environment symposium, 2009,
pp. 19–23.
[10] U. J. Rajput and J. Yang, “Comparison of heat sink and water type PV/T
collector for polycrystalline photovoltaic panel cooling,” Renewable
energy, vol. 116, pp. 479–491, 2018.
[11] E. Cuce, T. Bali, and S. A. Sekucoglu, “Effects of passive cooling
on performance of silicon photovoltaic cells,” International Journal of
Low-Carbon Technologies, vol. 6, pp. 299–308, 2011.
[12] R. S. Kumar, N. P. Priyadharshini, and E. Natarajan, “Experimental
and numerical analysis of photovoltaic solar panel using thermoelectric
cooling,” Indian Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 8, pp. 252–256,
2015.
[13] S. Sargunanathan, A. Elango, and S. T. Mohideen, “Performance
enhancement of solar photovoltaic cells using effective cooling methods:
A review,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 64, pp.
382–393, 2016.
[14] J. Siecker, K. Kusakana, and B. P. Numbi, “A review of solar
photovoltaic systems cooling technologies,” Renewable and Sustainable
Energy Reviews, vol. 79, pp. 192–203, 2017.
[15] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, A. Phinikarides, M. Schubert, and G. E.
Georghiou, “Temperature and thermal annealing effects on different
photovoltaic technologies,” Renewable Energy, vol. 43, pp. 407–417,
2012. [16] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, M. Norton, and G. E. Georghiou, “Performance
of photovoltaics under actual operating conditions,” Third generation
photovoltaics, pp. 201–232, 2012.
[17] J. K. Kaldellis, M. Kapsali, and K. A. Kavadias, “Temperature and wind
speed impact on the efficiency of pv installations. experience obtained
from outdoor measurements in greece,” Renewable Energy, vol. 66, pp.
612–624, 2014.
[18] L. V. Mercaldo, M. L. Addonizio, M. D. Noce, P. D. Veneri,
A. Scognamiglio, and C. Privato, “Thin film silicon photovoltaics:
Architectural perspectives and technological issues,” Applied Energy,
vol. 86, pp. 1836–1844, 2009.
[19] G. Makrides, B. Zinsser, G. E. Georghiou, M. Schubert, and J. H.
Werner, “Temperature behaviour of different photovoltaic systems
installed in cyprus and germany,” Solar energy materials and solar cells,
vol. 93, pp. 1095–1099, 2009.
[20] A. Virtuani, H. M¨ullejans, and E. D.Dunlop, “Comparison of indoor and
outdoor performance measurements of recent commercially available
solar modules,” Progress in photovoltaics: Research and Applications,
vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 11–20, 2011.
[21] H. Chen, X. Chen, S. Li, and H. Ding, “Comparative study on the
performance improvement of photovoltaic panel with passive cooling
under natural ventilation,” International journal of smart grid and clean
energy, no. 4, pp. 374–379, 2014.
[22] S. Odeh and M. Behnia, “Improving photovoltaic module efficiency
using water cooling,” Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 30, pp. 499–505,
2009.
[23] A. Kordzadeh, “The effects of nominal power of array and system head
on the operation of photovoltaic water pumping set with array surface
covered by a film of water,” Renewable energy, vol. 35, pp. 1098–1102,
2010.
[24] L. Dorobant¸u and M. O. Popescu, “Increasing the efficiency of
photovoltaic panels through cooling water film,” UPB Sci. Bull., Series
C, vol. 75, 2013.
[25] A. Aldihani, A. Aldossary, S. Mahmoud, and R. K. Al-Dadah, “The
effect of cooling on the performance of photovoltaic cells under dusty
environmental conditions,” Energy Procedia, vol. 61, pp. 2383–2386,
2014.
[26] M. Y. Irwan, W. Z. Leow, M. Irwanto, A. R. Amelia, N. Gomesh, and
I. Safwati, “Indoor test performance of pv panel through water cooling
method,” Energy Procedia, vol. 79, pp. 604–611, 2015.
[27] H. G. Teo, P. S. Lee, and M. N. A. Hawlader, “An active cooling system
for photovoltaic modules,” applied energy, vol. 90, pp. 309–315, 2012.
[28] A. A. Tarabsheh, S. Voutetakisb, A. I. Papadopoulosb, P. Seferlisb,
I. Etiera, and O. Saraereha, “Investigation of temperature effects in
efficiency improvement of non-uniformly cooled photovoltaic cells,”
Chemical Engineering Transactions, vol. 35, 2013.
[29] H. Bahaidarah, A. Subhan, P. Gandhidasan, and S. Rehman,
“Performance evaluation of a pv (photovoltaic) module by back surface
water cooling for hot climatic conditions,” Energy, vol. 59, pp. 445–453,
2013.
[30] J. K. Tonui and Y. Tripanagnostopoulos, “Air-cooled PV/T solar
collectors with low cost performance improvements,” Solar energy,
vol. 81, no. 4, pp. 498–511, 2007.
[31] L. Idoko, O. Anaya-Lara, and A. McDonald, “Enhancing pv modules
efficiency and power output using multi-concept cooling technique,”
Energy Reports, vol. 4, pp. 357–369, 2018.
[32] A. Bejan, G. Tsatsaronis, and M. Moran, Thermal design and
optimization. John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
[33] A. Bar-Cohen and M. Iyengar, “Design and optimization of air-cooled
heat sinks for sustainable development,” IEEE transactions on
components and packaging technologies, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 584–591,
2002.
[34] A. Bar-Cohen, M. Iyengar, and A. D. Kraus, “Design of optimum
plate-fin natural convective heat sinks,” Journal of Electronic Packaging,
vol. 125, no. 2, pp. 208–216, 2003.
[35] V. Sethi, K. Sumathy, S. Yuvarajan, and D. Pal, “Mathematical model
for computing maximum power output of a pv solar module and
experimental validation,” Journal of fundamentals of renewable energy
and applications, vol. 2, 2012.
[36] S. Dubey, J. N. Sarvaiya, and B. Seshadri, “Temperature dependent
photovoltaic (pv) efficiency and its effect on pv production in the
world–a review,” Energy Procedia, vol. 33, pp. 311–321, 2013.
[37] D. L. Evans, “Simplified method for predicting photovoltaic array
output,” Solar energy, vol. 27, pp. 555–560, 1981.
[38] T. Hove, “A method for predicting long-term average performance of
photovoltaic systems,” Renewable Energy, vol. 21, pp. 207–229, 2000.
@article{"International Journal of Electrical, Electronic and Communication Sciences:79712", author = "Wisam K. Hussam and Ali Alfeeli and Gergory J. Sheard", title = "Efficiency Enhancement of Photovoltaic Panels Using an Optimised Air Cooled Heat Sink", abstract = "Solar panels that use photovoltaic (PV) cells are popular
for converting solar radiation into electricity. One of the major
problems impacting the performance of PV panels is the overheating
caused by excessive solar radiation and high ambient temperatures,
which degrades the efficiency of the PV panels remarkably. To
overcome this issue, an aluminum heat sink was used to dissipate
unwanted heat from PV cells. The dimensions of the heat sink were
determined considering the optimal fin spacing that fulfils hot climatic
conditions. In this study, the effects of cooling on the efficiency
and power output of a PV panel were studied experimentally. Two
PV modules were used: one without and one with a heat sink. The
experiments ran for 11 hours from 6:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. where
temperature readings in the rear and front of both PV modules were
recorded at an interval of 15 minutes using sensors and an Arduino
microprocessor. Results are recorded for both panels simultaneously
for analysis, temperate comparison, and for power and efficiency
calculations. A maximum increase in the solar to electrical conversion
efficiency of 35% and almost 55% in the power output were achieved
with the use of a heat sink, while temperatures at the front and back
of the panel were reduced by 9% and 11%, respectively.", keywords = "Photovoltaic cell, natural convection, heat sink,
efficiency.", volume = "14", number = "7", pages = "196-7", }
