Floating Photovoltaic Performance Evaluation Using Novel Cooling System Case Study

Abstract

Photovoltaic panels nowadays are considered one of the most important methods for generating electricity directly from the sun as a green energy resource. The photovoltaic cells convert about 20% of solar energy to electric power, and the rest is converted to heat that increases the cells temperature. The photovoltaic performance decreases by about 0.4%–0.5% for each 1°C increase in cell temperature. This article studies the effect of using a novel cooling design to cool floating photovoltaic panels with natural cold water from natural sources. ANSYS has been used to conduct a series of simulations under different boundary conditions like solar radiation, ambient temperature, and cooling water temperature at Duhok Dam Reservoir, KRI. The results of the proposed cooling module showed a significant increase in efficiency (1.26%–2.49%) and power performance (17.76–36.81W) and a significant increase in power (6.43%–14.89%) compared to the non-cooled module. Thus, using an active cooling method for floating panels could be a typical option to boost the output of the solar panels. The results of this research have outperformed other research, with a power increase rate of about 14.1%.