Photovoltaic backside cooling using the space inside a conventional frame (IPCOSY)

Abstract

Inefficiencies present in solar cells result in most of the absorbed energy beingconverted into heat,causing an increase in cell temperature,which leads to a further reduction in efficiency. Various cooling technologies can be found in the literature; however, these all come with their own challenges. In this research, we have designed a Photovoltaic (PV) panel that incorporates backside water cooling by creating a water chamber in the empty space inside the Aluminium frame. This panel was termed IPCoSy (Innovative Photovoltaic Cooling System). It was tested against a conventional cooling system that allowed water to drain when the cooling is switched off and a non-cooled control panel,and the results show that, even without any flow, a daily energy gain of about 3% is possible. When a controlled flow was introduced, gains of up to 10% were achieved. These gains can be further increased when IPCoSyis installed in ideal scenarios such as reverse osmosis plants, floating PV installations,or areas requiring water heating. Therefore, this research presents a new photovoltaic panel incorporating a water chamber designed for hot climate conditions.