Scientists in Hungary have built an experimental rig that a 60 W polycrystalline uses 152 holes that have been drilled in its frame for air cooling, as well as copper alloy pipes with high conductivity and fins placed on his back for water cooling.
Researchers from the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science and the University of Kufa in Iraq have developed a new Dual-PV module cooling technique based on water and air.
For air cooling makes the use of a perforated frame and a fan; While it uses pyramid-shaped fins and a serpentine pipe for water cooling. The team constructed and tested an experimental rig of the system.
“The proposed design has an innovative solar panel framework with strategically positioned perforations, presenting a special approach to cooling technologies by improving airflow dynamics,” they said. “By effectively managing and reusing this thermal energy, the design significantly improves thermal regulation and overall efficiency of the solar energy system.”
The experimental rig was based on a 60 W. Polycrystalline solar panel. For the air cooling section, the academics have drilled 152 holes on the sides of the frame, which introduces air. A hole was also drilled on the back of the panel and served as the air exit. A fan was attached to the exhaust, with airflow regulated at 1.1 m/s. With regard to the water cooling section, a serpentine pipe was mounted on the back of the solar panel, with 11 fins in between.
The research team built both the pipe and the fins with a copper alloy with a high conductivity, which supposedly optimizes the efficiency of heat transfer. It also assembled the tube and fins on the surface via a special highly conductor adhesive with high thermal conductivity to guarantee direct contact and improve the transfer of energy. A wooden sheet was then attached to the panel frame to make an air duct and two insulation sheets were added.
It was assumed that the hot air of the system from the system supports the space heating of a house, while the exhaust hot water was stored in a water tank. In addition to this new system (PV-D), two other systems were constructed for compression purposes: the first was a system including the 60 W module without cooling (PV-R), while the second only included the panel and the air cooling (PV-A).
All rigs were placed in the city of Gödöllunder, in the center of Hungary. They were installed on a tilted aluminum frame with a tilt angle of 43Z oriented southwards, with an azimut corner of (-19wer). Versions were admitted for two consecutive days, characterized by clear heaven conditions in May 2024.
“The PV-D system showed an improved electrical efficiency and produced up to 42.87 W at 1,018.76 W/m2 irradiation compared to PV-R, which marked an increase of 42.4%,” the results showed. “The PV-D system achieved a significant improvement in thermal efficiency, which performed the air-cooled system with approximately 48.5% better with a radiation intensity of 1,018.758 W/m2.”
Moreover, the scientists found that the PV-D average temperature reductions of approximately 5.4 C and 12.5 C compared to PV-A and PV-R respectively. It also showed an average exergy efficiency of 27.7%, compared to an average efficiency of 16.2% observed for the air-cooled PV-A system and 6% for the PV-R system reference.
The system was presented in “Optimization of dual-cooling technology in perforated solar PV modules: experimental insights in the direction of carbon neutrality and sustainability“Published in Energy conversion and management: X.
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