Performance investigation of tempered glass based photovoltaic panel integrated with back cooling hollow chamber

At present, the whole world is facing a huge fuel crisis and those who adopt the extraction of energy from renewable sources are getting much benefit both environmentally and economically. Photovoltaic systems are the most mature and scaled renewable energy generation systems worldwide. However, the optimal condition for maximizing the output from Photovoltaic (PV) panels is characterized by low temperatures and high irradiation levels. With the increasing temperature and irradiation, the solar panel becomes warmer and thus the efficiency drops. Hence, by cooling the PV panels, the efficiency can be increase. Various thermal collector designs and different water flowing methods (Top cooling & Back cooling) has been employed to cool the panels. In this research study, an experiment of building a new PVT panel attached to a hollow chamber (Thermal Collector) at the back of the panel is carried out. In hollow chamber the warm water was kept inside and release that when the water was hot enough. This experiment was conducted in various outdoor conditions. On average, the electrical efficiency was measured 8.7 to 9.9% higher than the simple PV system. Maximum overall efficiency was recorded as 76%. The experiment also figured out due to low irradiation in cloudy weather the output power drops significantly.