The Effect of a Water/Air Hybrid Cooling System on Solar Panel Energy Efficiency

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Engineering

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

Traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels, have begun to show their limits and renewable energy sources have consequently increased in demand. Photovoltaics, more commonly known as solar panels, have become a popular device for residential and commercial energy production alike, but encounter overheating issues. The purpose of this paper is represented by an experimental cooling design that consists of two active cooling methods, forced convection and liquid-based cooling. It was hypothesized that when those methods were united to create a hybrid system by making use of a water pump and a fan proportionate in size to the photovoltaic, the electrical production of the photovoltaic would increase due to the system’s cooling ability. A submersible water pump and 12 Volt fan were implemented to effectively provide cooling to the front and rear of the photovoltaic device without being too bulky, fragile, or inefficient. Using a halogen lamp to provide light, this photovoltaic cooling system resulted in an average mean increase of 2.064 volts compared to an uncooled photovoltaic, resulting in an increase of 2480% in voltage output from the solar modules used. The data proved statistically significant as it had an average of 0.00197, which was less than the value of 0.01 (F(3, 116) = 4.97, p = .003). It was determined that the proposed cooling system proved significantly effective at cooling photovoltaics and has considerable benefits to its voltage production.

Location

RITA 102

Start Date

3-23-2024 11:00 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 23rd, 11:00 AM

The Effect of a Water/Air Hybrid Cooling System on Solar Panel Energy Efficiency

RITA 102

Traditional energy sources, such as fossil fuels, have begun to show their limits and renewable energy sources have consequently increased in demand. Photovoltaics, more commonly known as solar panels, have become a popular device for residential and commercial energy production alike, but encounter overheating issues. The purpose of this paper is represented by an experimental cooling design that consists of two active cooling methods, forced convection and liquid-based cooling. It was hypothesized that when those methods were united to create a hybrid system by making use of a water pump and a fan proportionate in size to the photovoltaic, the electrical production of the photovoltaic would increase due to the system’s cooling ability. A submersible water pump and 12 Volt fan were implemented to effectively provide cooling to the front and rear of the photovoltaic device without being too bulky, fragile, or inefficient. Using a halogen lamp to provide light, this photovoltaic cooling system resulted in an average mean increase of 2.064 volts compared to an uncooled photovoltaic, resulting in an increase of 2480% in voltage output from the solar modules used. The data proved statistically significant as it had an average of 0.00197, which was less than the value of 0.01 (F(3, 116) = 4.97, p = .003). It was determined that the proposed cooling system proved significantly effective at cooling photovoltaics and has considerable benefits to its voltage production.