Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access

Abstract

Enhancing Photoelectric Conversion Efficiency of Solar Panel by Water Cooling

M Mohamed Musthafa

Photovoltaic solar cell generates electricity by receiving solar irradiance. The electrical efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cell is adversely affected by the significant increase of cell operating temperature during absorption of solar radiation. This undesirable effect can be partially avoided by fixing a water absorption sponge on the back side of the photovoltaic panel and maintain wet condition by circulation of drop by drop water through sponge. The objective of the present work is to reduce the temperature of the solar cell in order to increase its electrical conversion efficiency. Experiments were performed with and without water cooling. A linear trend between the efficiency and temperature was found. Without cooling, the temperature of the panel was high and solar cells achieved an efficiency of 8–9%. However, when the panel was operated under water cooling condition, the temperature dropped maximally by 40C leading to an increase in efficiency of solar cells by 12%.