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Photovoltaic panel cooling by atmospheric water sorption–evaporation cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Renyuan Li

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Yusuf Shi

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Mengchun Wu

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Seunghyun Hong

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)

  • Peng Wang

    (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
    The Hong Kong Polytechnic University)

Abstract

More than 600 GW of photovoltaic panels are currently installed worldwide, with the predicted total capacity increasing very rapidly every year. One essential issue in photovoltaic conversion is the massive heat generation of photovoltaic panels under sunlight, which represents 75–96% of the total absorbed solar energy and thus greatly increases the temperature and decreases the energy efficiency and lifetime of photovoltaic panels. In this report we demonstrate a new and versatile photovoltaic panel cooling strategy that employs a sorption-based atmospheric water harvester as an effective cooling component. The atmospheric water harvester photovoltaic cooling system provides an average cooling power of 295 W m–2 and lowers the temperature of a photovoltaic panel by at least 10 °C under 1.0 kW m–2 solar irradiation in laboratory conditions. It delivered a 13–19% increase in electricity generation in a commercial photovoltaic panel in outdoor field tests conducted in the winter and summer in Saudi Arabia. The atmospheric water harvester based photovoltaic panel cooling strategy has little geographical constraint in terms of its application and has the potential to improve the electricity production of existing and future photovoltaic plants, which can be directly translated into less CO2 emission or less land occupation by photovoltaic panels. As solar power is taking centre stage in the global fight against climate change, atmospheric water harvester based cooling represents an important step toward sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Renyuan Li & Yusuf Shi & Mengchun Wu & Seunghyun Hong & Peng Wang, 2020. "Photovoltaic panel cooling by atmospheric water sorption–evaporation cycle," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(8), pages 636-643, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:8:d:10.1038_s41893-020-0535-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-0535-4
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Anand, B. & Shankar, R. & Murugavelh, S. & Rivera, W. & Midhun Prasad, K. & Nagarajan, R., 2021. "A review on solar photovoltaic thermal integrated desalination technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Youhong Guo & Weixin Guan & Chuxin Lei & Hengyi Lu & Wen Shi & Guihua Yu, 2022. "Scalable super hygroscopic polymer films for sustainable moisture harvesting in arid environments," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-7, December.
    3. Tingxian Li & Minqiang Wu & Jiaxing Xu & Ruxue Du & Taisen Yan & Pengfei Wang & Zhaoyuan Bai & Ruzhu Wang & Siqi Wang, 2022. "Simultaneous atmospheric water production and 24-hour power generation enabled by moisture-induced energy harvesting," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    4. Al-Amri, Fahad & Saeed, Farooq & Mujeebu, Muhammad Abdul, 2022. "Novel dual-function racking structure for passive cooling of solar PV panels –thermal performance analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 100-113.
    5. Carlos D. Díaz-Marín & Lorenzo Masetti & Miles A. Roper & Kezia E. Hector & Yang Zhong & Zhengmao Lu & Omer R. Caylan & Gustav Graeber & Jeffrey C. Grossman, 2024. "Physics-based prediction of moisture-capture properties of hydrogels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    6. Seonggon Kim & Jong Ha Park & Jae Won Lee & Yongchan Kim & Yong Tae Kang, 2023. "Self-recovering passive cooling utilizing endothermic reaction of NH4NO3/H2O driven by water sorption for photovoltaic cell," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Tashtoush, Bourhan & Alyahya, Wa'ed & Al Ghadi, Malak & Al-Omari, Jamal & Morosuk, Tatiana, 2023. "Renewable energy integration in water desalination: State-of-the-art review and comparative analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).
    8. Wang, Wei-Wei & Chen, Jun-Wen & Zhang, Chun-Yu & Yang, Hong-Fei & Ji, Xiao-Wen & Zhang, Hong-Liang & Zhao, Fu-Yun & Cai, Yang, 2024. "Green thermal management of photovoltaic panels by the absorbent hydrogel evaporative (AHE) cooling jointly with 3D porous copper foam (CF) structure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    9. Gan Huang & Jingyuan Xu & Christos N. Markides, 2023. "High-efficiency bio-inspired hybrid multi-generation photovoltaic leaf," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Cengiz, Mazlum & Kayri, İsmail & Aydın, Hüseyin, 2024. "A collated overview on the evaporative cooling applications for photovoltaic modules," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    11. Shan, He & Poredoš, Primož & Zou, Hao & Lv, Haotian & Wang, Ruzhu, 2023. "Perspectives for urban microenvironment sustainability enabled by decentralized water-energy-food harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    12. Bian, Bin & Shi, Le & Katuri, Krishna P. & Xu, Jiajie & Wang, Peng & Saikaly, Pascal E., 2020. "Efficient solar-to-acetate conversion from CO2 through microbial electrosynthesis coupled with stable photoanode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    13. He Shan & Chunfeng Li & Zhihui Chen & Wenjun Ying & Primož Poredoš & Zhanyu Ye & Quanwen Pan & Jiayun Wang & Ruzhu Wang, 2022. "Exceptional water production yield enabled by batch-processed portable water harvester in semi-arid climate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

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