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Novel Design for Thermal Management of PV Cells in Harsh Environmental Conditions

Author

Listed:
  • Nasser Ahmad

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Amith Khandakar

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Amir El-Tayeb

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Kamel Benhmed

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Atif Iqbal

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

  • Farid Touati

    (Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar)

Abstract

The abundance of solar energy is a blessing in the Arabian Peninsula, where more than 2000 kWh/m 2 density has been recorded annually. This has resulted in sincere consideration of PV harvesting in the energy matrix and smart grid. However, artefacts such as degradation of PV efficiency due to the high temperature effect have to be addressed. This paper presents a novel design of a PV cooling system using water to mitigate the effect of high temperature. Several experiments have been conducted, and the results have been analyzed. It has been found that the collected water from the panel after 40 min of cooling gained a temperature of 10 °C approximately, during December 2016. Eventually, the efficiency was improved by 10.35% (without using MPPT) using water at ambient temperature (24 °C) compared to the non-cooled panel. Moreover, the temperature of the panel during solar peak hours dropped from 64.3 °C to 32 °C and from 59 °C to 27 °C in 3 min for the back and front surface, respectively. These results, which are the first of their kind in Qatar, constitute good incentives and pave the way for further investigation to enhance PV efficiency in harsh environments. This would be of paramount significance, especially for scaling up PV deployment, as is planned in Qatar and GCC countries in their 2030 vision.

Suggested Citation

  • Nasser Ahmad & Amith Khandakar & Amir El-Tayeb & Kamel Benhmed & Atif Iqbal & Farid Touati, 2018. "Novel Design for Thermal Management of PV Cells in Harsh Environmental Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-9, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:11:p:3231-:d:184438
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ullah, K.R. & Saidur, R. & Ping, H.W. & Akikur, R.K. & Shuvo, N.H., 2013. "A review of solar thermal refrigeration and cooling methods," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 499-513.
    2. Touati, Farid & Al-Hitmi, M.A. & Chowdhury, Noor Alam & Hamad, Jehan Abu & San Pedro Gonzales, Antonio J.R., 2016. "Investigation of solar PV performance under Doha weather using a customized measurement and monitoring system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 564-577.
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    Cited by:

    1. Veena Raj & Sam-Quarcoo Dotse & Mathew Sathyajith & M. I. Petra & Hayati Yassin, 2023. "Ensemble Machine Learning for Predicting the Power Output from Different Solar Photovoltaic Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Amith Khandakar & Annaufal Rizqullah & Anas Ashraf Abdou Berbar & Mohammad Rafi Ahmed & Atif Iqbal & Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury & S. M. Ashfaq Uz Zaman, 2020. "A Case Study to Identify the Hindrances to Widespread Adoption of Electric Vehicles in Qatar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-20, August.
    3. Alberto Benato & Anna Stoppato, 2019. "An Experimental Investigation of a Novel Low-Cost Photovoltaic Panel Active Cooling System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Malvika, A. & Arunachala, U.C. & Varun, K., 2022. "Sustainable passive cooling strategy for photovoltaic module using burlap fabric-gravity assisted flow: A comparative Energy, exergy, economic, and enviroeconomic analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    5. Amith Khandakar & Muhammad E. H. Chowdhury & Monzure- Khoda Kazi & Kamel Benhmed & Farid Touati & Mohammed Al-Hitmi & Antonio Jr S. P. Gonzales, 2019. "Machine Learning Based Photovoltaics (PV) Power Prediction Using Different Environmental Parameters of Qatar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Fahad AlAmri & Gaydaa AlZohbi & Mohammed AlZahrani & Mohammed Aboulebdah, 2021. "Analytical Modeling and Optimization of a Heat Sink Design for Passive Cooling of Solar PV Panel," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-23, March.

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