IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v211y2018icp1297-1307.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Demonstration project of a cooling system for existing PV power plants in Portugal

Author

Listed:
  • Castanheira, André F.A.
  • Fernandes, João F.P.
  • Branco, P.J. Costa

Abstract

Water cooling continues to be an attractive solution for mitigating thermal effects in photovoltaic (PV) panels. However, a technically viable and economically effective design of a cooling system for utility-scale solar power plants already operating is still in its early developments. In this context, this work not only presents the design and characterization of a water cooling kit system specifically conducted for already existing and operating PV plants, but also takes into account various aspects of its potential as a commercial-scale product. One considers not only water and energy losses in the cooling system, optimizing it for a real industrial application, but also economic aspects as the investment cost, durability and maintenance have been taken into account. In this specific context, the cooling kit was designed to minimize its cost and also the amount of water used. An analytical model is also presented and validated to predict the PV temperature of a cooled and non-cooled panel, all based on meteorological data at the desired installation place. Prototyping and testing were done on a 20 kW PV plant functioning in a roof of an industrial building in Lisbon (Portugal). Experiments showed how cooling/heating thermal time constants of the PV panels and water ON/OFF time cycles affect PVs’ efficiency. A large amount of test data was produced and analyzed, showing how the cooling kit can increase annual energy production up to +12%.

Suggested Citation

  • Castanheira, André F.A. & Fernandes, João F.P. & Branco, P.J. Costa, 2018. "Demonstration project of a cooling system for existing PV power plants in Portugal," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1297-1307.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:211:y:2018:i:c:p:1297-1307
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.11.086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917316859
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.11.086?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elbreki, A.M. & Alghoul, M.A. & Sopian, K. & Hussein, T., 2017. "Towards adopting passive heat dissipation approaches for temperature regulation of PV module as a sustainable solution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 961-1017.
    2. Cuce, Erdem & Cuce, Pinar Mert & Bali, Tulin, 2013. "An experimental analysis of illumination intensity and temperature dependency of photovoltaic cell parameters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 374-382.
    3. Chandel, S.S. & Agarwal, Tanya, 2017. "Review of cooling techniques using phase change materials for enhancing efficiency of photovoltaic power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1342-1351.
    4. Siddiqui, M.U. & Arif, A.F.M., 2013. "Electrical, thermal and structural performance of a cooled PV module: Transient analysis using a multiphysics model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 300-312.
    5. Gaur, Ankita & Tiwari, G.N., 2014. "Performance of a-Si thin film PV modules with and without water flow: An experimental validation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 184-191.
    6. Chandrasekar, M. & Senthilkumar, T., 2015. "Experimental demonstration of enhanced solar energy utilization in flat PV (photovoltaic) modules cooled by heat spreaders in conjunction with cotton wick structures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 1401-1410.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Žižak, Tej & Domjan, Suzana & Medved, Sašo & Arkar, Ciril, 2022. "Efficiency and sustainability assessment of evaporative cooling of photovoltaics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    2. Hamed, Tareq Abu & Alshare, Aiman & El-Khalil, Hossam, 2019. "Passive cooling of building-integrated photovolatics in desert conditions: Experiment and modeling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 131-138.
    3. Lu, Wei & Liu, Zhishan & Flor, Jan-Frederik & Wu, Yupeng & Yang, Mo, 2018. "Investigation on designed fins-enhanced phase change materials system for thermal management of a novel building integrated concentrating PV," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 696-709.
    4. Nižetić, Sandro & Jurčević, Mišo & Čoko, Duje & Arıcı, Müslüm, 2021. "A novel and effective passive cooling strategy for photovoltaic panel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    5. Siddiqui, M.U. & Siddiqui, Osman K. & Al-Sarkhi, A. & Arif, A.F.M. & Zubair, Syed M., 2019. "A novel heat exchanger design procedure for photovoltaic panel cooling application: An analytical and experimental evaluation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(C), pages 41-56.
    6. Karkaba, H. & Etienne, L. & Pelay, U. & Russeil, S. & Simo tala, J. & Boonaert, J. & Lecoeuche, S. & Bougeard, D., 2023. "Performance improvement of air cooled photo-voltaic thermal panel using economic model predictive control and vortex generators," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    7. Hadipour, Amirhosein & Rajabi Zargarabadi, Mehran & Rashidi, Saman, 2021. "An efficient pulsed- spray water cooling system for photovoltaic panels: Experimental study and cost analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 867-875.
    8. Hu, Mingke & Zhao, Bin & Ao, Xianze & Ren, Xiao & Cao, Jingyu & Wang, Qiliang & Su, Yuehong & Pei, Gang, 2020. "Performance assessment of a trifunctional system integrating solar PV, solar thermal, and radiative sky cooling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    9. Bevilacqua, Piero & Bruno, Roberto & Arcuri, Natale, 2020. "Comparing the performances of different cooling strategies to increase photovoltaic electric performance in different meteorological conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Jinshun & Zhang, Xingxing & Shen, Jingchun & Wu, Yupeng & Connelly, Karen & Yang, Tong & Tang, Llewellyn & Xiao, Manxuan & Wei, Yixuan & Jiang, Ke & Chen, Chao & Xu, Peng & Wang, Hong, 2017. "A review of thermal absorbers and their integration methods for the combined solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 839-854.
    2. Gilmore, Nicholas & Timchenko, Victoria & Menictas, Chris, 2018. "Microchannel cooling of concentrator photovoltaics: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1041-1059.
    3. Nadda, Rahul & Kumar, Anil & Maithani, Rajesh, 2018. "Efficiency improvement of solar photovoltaic/solar air collectors by using impingement jets: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 331-353.
    4. Hou, Hui & Xu, Tao & Wu, Xixiu & Wang, Huan & Tang, Aihong & Chen, Yangyang, 2020. "Optimal capacity configuration of the wind-photovoltaic-storage hybrid power system based on gravity energy storage system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    5. Yecid Mu oz & Luz Helena Carvajal & Juan Pablo M ndez & Javier Camilo Ni o & Miguel Angel De la Rosa & Adalberto Ospino, 2021. "Technical and Financial Assessment of Photovoltaic Solar Systems for Residential Complexes Considering Three Different Commercial Technologies and Colombia s Energy Policy," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 272-280.
    6. Fontana, Éliton & Battiston, Lucas & Oliveira, Rosivaldo G.A. & Capeletto, Claudia A. & Luz, Luiz F.L., 2022. "Beyond the combustion chamber: Heat transfer and its impact on micro-thermophotovoltaic systems performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    7. Enrique A. Enríquez-Velásquez & Victor H. Benitez & Sergey G. Obukhov & Luis C. Félix-Herrán & Jorge de-J. Lozoya-Santos, 2020. "Estimation of Solar Resource Based on Meteorological and Geographical Data: Sonora State in Northwestern Territory of Mexico as Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-41, December.
    8. Manfredi Picciotto Maniscalco & Sonia Longo & Gabriele Miccichè & Maurizio Cellura & Marco Ferraro, 2023. "A Critical Review of the Environmental Performance of Bifacial Photovoltaic Panels," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. Aurel Gontean & Septimiu Lica & Szilard Bularka & Roland Szabo & Dan Lascu, 2017. "A Novel High Accuracy PV Cell Model Including Self Heating and Parameter Variation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Hamed, Tareq Abu & Alshare, Aiman & El-Khalil, Hossam, 2019. "Passive cooling of building-integrated photovolatics in desert conditions: Experiment and modeling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 131-138.
    11. Hu, Jianhui & Chen, Wujun & Yang, Deqing & Zhao, Bing & Song, Hao & Ge, Binbin, 2016. "Energy performance of ETFE cushion roof integrated photovoltaic/thermal system on hot and cold days," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 40-51.
    12. Saxena, Ashish & Deshmukh, Sandip & Nirali, Somanath & Wani, Saurabh, 2018. "Laboratory based Experimental Investigation of Photovoltaic (PV) Thermo-control with Water and its Proposed Real-time Implementation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 128-138.
    13. Xudong Wang & Jinmao Chen & Chunhua Xiong & Shizhan Li & Wanli Xu, 2023. "Analysis of Laser Cell Response Characteristics under Different Irradiation Conditions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-11, February.
    14. Cuce, Erdem, 2016. "Toward multi-functional PV glazing technologies in low/zero carbon buildings: Heat insulation solar glass – Latest developments and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1286-1301.
    15. Cuce, Pinar Mert & Riffat, Saffa, 2015. "A comprehensive review of heat recovery systems for building applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 665-682.
    16. Habibollahzade, Ali, 2019. "Employing photovoltaic/thermal panels as a solar chimney roof: 3E analyses and multi-objective optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 118-130.
    17. Cui, Yuanlong & Zhu, Jie & Zoras, Stamatis & Zhang, Jizhe, 2021. "Comprehensive review of the recent advances in PV/T system with loop-pipe configuration and nanofluid," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    18. Faisal Masood & Nursyarizal Bin Mohd Nor & Perumal Nallagownden & Irraivan Elamvazuthi & Rahman Saidur & Mohammad Azad Alam & Javed Akhter & Mohammad Yusuf & Mubbashar Mehmood & Mujahid Ali, 2022. "A Review of Recent Developments and Applications of Compound Parabolic Concentrator-Based Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Collectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-30, May.
    19. Alhuyi Nazari, Mohammad & Ahmadi, Mohammad H. & Ghasempour, Roghayeh & Shafii, Mohammad Behshad & Mahian, Omid & Kalogirou, Soteris & Wongwises, Somchai, 2018. "A review on pulsating heat pipes: From solar to cryogenic applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 475-484.
    20. Sheel Bhadra & Niloy Sen & Akshay K K & Harmeet Singh & Paul G. O’Brien, 2023. "Design and Evaluation of a Water-Based, Semitransparent Photovoltaic Thermal Trombe Wall," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-15, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:211:y:2018:i:c:p:1297-1307. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.