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Performance Analysis of Photovoltaic Module with
Different Passive Cooling Methods
To cite this article: Muhammad Arif bin Azahari et al 2021 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 945
012016
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4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Performance Analysis of Photovoltaic Module with Different
Passive Cooling Methods
Muhammad Arif bin Azahari1, Chua Yaw Long*2 and Koh Yit Yan3
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang
Selangor, Malaysia.
2
Institue of Sustainable Energy, Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 43000 Kajang Selangor,
Malaysia
3
Newcastle Australia Institute of Higher Education, Singapore
*
Corresponding author’s email: chuayl@uniten.edu.my
Abstract. This paper analyses the difference in terms of performance of passive cooling systems
for photovoltaic (PV) modules. The objective of this paper is to identify which passive cooling
systems offers the best results in reducing the operating temperature and improving the
generation of output power. The performance of photovoltaic (PV) module will gradually
decrease as the operating temperature increases. The energy from the sun’s photons are not
enough to knock out the electrons from the atom to generate more electricity. That being the
case, two passive cooling systems is developed which is the cotton wick structures with water
and aluminium fins were attached to the back side of the photovoltaic (PV) module. The cotton
wick structures with water utilises the capillary action of the water to extract excess heat from
the module while the aluminium fins act as a heat sink that can remove heat from module to the
adjacent air. Results showed that the cooling systems managed to enhance the output power by
an average of 3.94% for the module with cotton wick structures with water while an average of
2.67% increment for the module under aluminium fin mounted as the cooling system.
Keywords: Renewable Energy; Photovoltaic; Passive Cooling; Cotton Wick; Aluminium Fin.
1.
Introduction
Renewable energy is gaining popularity worldwide, and these alternative energy sources will be critical
in addressing the global climate issues [1]. The renewable energies are produced by sources that are
constantly replenished naturally. Solar energy, wind energy and wave energy are some of the examples
of the renewable energies. One of the main reasons for the world's reliance on non-renewable energies
is that renewable production installations require a large area coverage, and non-renewable energy is
said to be more production-efficient [2].
One of the very promising renewable energy is solar energy. Solar energy is abundant in Malaysia and
possesses great potential in electrical energy generation. However, due to the prolonged exposure to
solar rays, the surface temperature of the PV module will increase over time. This increment will affect
the performance of the PV module. Thus, cooling methods had been designed, developed, and
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1
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
implemented to reduce the temperature of the PV module surfaces [3]. Many cooling methods are
available and researched by many researchers around the world [4-6].
According to Clement's [7] research, the power output of a Photovoltaic (PV) system is dependent on
two factors, namely insulation of the system modules, and the operating temperature of the modules, as
demonstrated by simulation conducted at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Through the
use of a 37.8 kW PV system, as the operating temperature yield a reduction of temperature by an amount
of 0.31% of power loss per Kelvin. As a result, the average operating temperature was 35.4 ºC, resulting
in a 1.22 kW power loss at the rated system power output.
Ahmad El Mays [8] carried out an experimental investigation on the efficiency of solar panels made of
the aluminium finned plate. The finned aluminium plate increased power efficiency significantly by
1.75% and power output by 1.86% Watt. This means that the finned plate is shown to be an efficient
heat sink. The plate can transfers most of the additional hear from the solar cells, while maintaining
the temperature of the PV panel below the maximum allowable temperature, and hence it is regarded
as an efficient heat sink.
Chandrasekar et al. [9] tested a passive cooling solution for PV modules using cotton wick structures.
They were able to reduce the temperature to around 45ºC from 60C. As the cotton wick is humid, and
the results of the capillary action of the wick structures at the module’s back surface, a temperature drop
of around 30% was achieved. Furthermore, according to another study conducted by M. Chandrasekar
[10], under undercooling circumstances, the maximum temperature of the PV module was reduced by
roughly 5.9ºC, reducing from 49.2ºC to 43.3ºC. The electrical yield was also improved by 14% because
of the cooling effect supplied by the cotton wick and aluminium finned combination.
The different cooling methods proposed by Ahmad [8] and Chandrasekar [7] were conducted at
different times and locations. These two methods' effectiveness can be further researched and made
comparable under similar operating conditions at the exact location.
2.
Materials and Methods
The experiment was designed to identify effect of the performance of the photovoltaic panel towards
the passive cooling systems. For each set of experiments, three 20-W, 480-mm 340-mm PV modules
were used. The first PV was treated with an aluminium fin plate attached to the reverse surface of the
panel, the second panel was attached with cotton wick structures with water, while the last one was used
as a controlled system. The PV modules were left under the sun for three different days. Various
readings were measured simultaneously, including the surface temperature of the PV modules, the
open-circuit voltage, the short circuit current and theoretical power generated by the PV modules. This
section of the paper describes the prototype and setup of the experiment.
2.1
Setup of Experiment
As part of the data collection procedure, two sets of cooling systems and one controlled system were
used. Standard outdoor chairs were used as stands for the three PV panels, oriented upwards to ensure
that the panels received an adequate amount of sunlight for data collection, as shown in Figure 1.
2
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Figure 1. Constructed Prototype for experiment
For a cooling system using a cotton wick setup, the 5-mm-diameter cotton wick structures were placed
on the reverse surface of the panel of this prototype, with their ends immersed in the water tank, as
depicted in Figure 2. The wick is wetted through the capillary action, allowing it to be easily absorbing
excessive heat from the PV module.
For the cooling system using aluminium fin plates, thermal conductive glue was used to attach an
aluminium finned plate to the reverse surface of the PV panel, as shown in Figure 3. Aluminium was
chosen because it is easily obtainable at lower cost and works better as compared to other materials.
The aluminium finned plate also comes with a high thermal conductivity that allows heat to be
convected to the adjacent fluid, which is air. The finned plate with a dimension of 70-mm width, 70mm length and a thickness of 1 mm were used.
Figure 2. PV panel under cotton wick structures
3
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Figure 3. PV panel under Aluminium Finned Plate
The experiment was carried out on a bright day in Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. The experiment lasted 7
hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., where data were collected within intervals of 30 minutes and was
repeated across the three different days. The average reading for all measured readings was evaluated.
3.
Results and Discussion
Table 1 illustrates the average readings for the surface temperature of the solar panels and the voltage
generated for all solar panels. Table 2, on the other hand, illustrates the average readings of current and
power generated for all solar panels.
Table 1. Average Readings of Solar Panel Surface Temperature and Voltage Generated
Average Open Circuit Voltage (V)
Average Surface Temperature (C)
Time
Control
Finned
Cotton
Time
Control
Finned
Cotton
1000
32.60
32.27
29.93
1000
20.51
20.60
20.72
1030
42.17
38.17
36.13
1030
20.12
20.09
20.20
1100
49.47
44.70
41.47
1100
19.00
19.79
20.30
1130
56.93
53.53
49.17
1130
19.93
20.04
20.47
1200
57.67
53.77
48.70
1200
19.69
19.90
20.27
1230
64.00
60.40
55.77
1230
19.84
19.97
20.37
1300
58.83
54.83
51.73
1300
19.62
19.92
20.26
1330
63.40
58.90
57.10
1330
19.59
19.81
20.07
1400
62.80
57.90
55.14
1400
19.66
20.09
20.23
1430
63.87
63.30
56.53
1430
19.58
19.83
19.90
1500
57.20
57.20
51.37
1500
19.62
19.78
20.03
1530
48.53
47.90
42.63
1530
19.71
19.84
20.17
1600
51.37
47.80
45.80
1600
19.86
19.90
20.13
1630
44.13
40.60
38.63
1630
19.28
19.98
20.50
1700
43.23
41.40
38.57
1700
19.85
23.37
20.43
4
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Table 2. Average Readings of Current and Power Generated by the Solar Panels
Average Short Circuit Current (A)
Average Theoretical Power (W)
Time
Control
Finned
Cotton
Time
Control
Finned
Cotton
1000
0.66
0.69
0.63
1000
13.47
14.16
13.01
1030
0.78
0.79
0.75
1030
15.72
15.81
15.28
1100
0.90
0.92
0.88
1100
17.02
18.13
17.79
1130
0.95
1.01
0.97
1130
18.87
20.18
19.93
1200
1.04
1.06
1.03
1200
20.54
21.10
20.96
1230
1.08
1.11
1.11
1230
21.49
22.23
22.54
1300
1.10
1.15
1.11
1300
21.65
22.85
22.55
1330
1.11
1.14
1.12
1330
21.74
22.58
22.55
1400
1.09
1.11
1.10
1400
21.49
22.30
22.26
1430
1.08
1.11
1.09
1430
21.21
21.94
21.63
1500
0.77
0.80
0.80
1500
15.20
15.80
16.00
1530
0.70
0.72
0.70
1530
13.84
14.35
14.06
1600
0.66
0.68
0.68
1600
13.04
13.53
13.74
1630
0.47
0.52
0.53
1630
8.98
10.40
10.92
1700
0.45
0.46
0.46
1700
9.00
10.92
9.33
Based on the experimental data recorded in Table 1 and Table 2, Figure 4 to Figure 7 were plotted.
Figure 4 illustrates the average surface temperature of the three PV modules concerning time. Results
obtained indicate that the cotton wick structure with a water-cooling system was able to lower the
photovoltaic module's temperature much better than the aluminium fin system.
Figure 4. Average temperature of photovoltaic module with different methods of cooling
5
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Figure 5. Photovoltaic module average voltage output
Figure 5 illustrates the average voltage generated. The module with cotton wick structures with a watercooling system outperformed the aluminium fin cooling system in almost every point of readings
collected.
Figure 6. Photovoltaic module average current output
Figure 7. Photovoltaic module average power output
6
4th International Symposium on Green and Sustainable Technology (ISGST 2021)
IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 945 (2021) 012016
doi:10.1088/1755-1315/945/1/012016
Figure 6 and Figure 7 illustrate the average reading of average short-circuit current and average
theoretical power generated by the PV modules throughout the three days. According to the experiment
results, the module with an aluminium fin mounted as the cooling system provided an average increment
of 2.67% in power output. In comparison, the module with cotton wick structures with water provided
a 3.94% average increase in power output compared to the control PV module without a cooling system.
Similar behaviour is also observed for the average short-circuit current for the three-day observation.
4.
Conclusion
This experiment was to study their effect in reducing the temperature of the surface of PV panels. In
this research, two different cooling systems were applied to two different PV panels, while another one
was set to be the control system. For all PV panels, three days of data collection were conducted.
Average readings were calculated and compared for all three different systems. From the results
obtained, the cotton wick structure was more effective than the aluminium finned when it comes to
cooling the PV panels, where the output power can be increased by about 47.5% as compared to the
aluminium fin.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to extend sincere gratitude to Universiti Tenaga Nasional for its financial support
for this project.
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