Enhancement of Solar Photovoltaic Module Performance by Using a Water-cooling Chamber for Climatic Conditions of Iraq

The cooling of photovoltaic (PV) modules is essential for enhancing electrical efficiency and power obtained. In this paper, a water-cooling chamber is attached to the back of PV module to study the effect of pane orientation, which guides water flow through the chamber, and reverse water flow on the electrical and thermal performance of photovoltaic /thermal (PV/T) system. The installation of PV modules is at a 33 degrees-angle tilted to the south. The type of PV module is FRS-50W with dimensions of 640 mm x540 mm. Three styles of PV with different pane flow angles of 60 degrees, 30 degrees and 0 degrees are implemented. The modules are simultaneously tested and compared with an uncooled PV (Module 0) under two directions of water flow. The three modules of flow angles (60 degrees, 30 degrees and 0 degrees) are defined as Module I, II and III at up-flow, respectively and Module IV, V and VI at down-flow, respectively. Results show that Module I has a maximum thermal efficiency of 80% at water flowrate 4 l/min and an increment of 54% for a range 1-4 l/min. When flow rate is 4 l/min in cooling chamber of Module I, II, and III, electrical efficiency increases by 17%, 15.3% and 13.6%, respectively compared with Module 0 under the same conditions. Furthermore, its maximum power (Pmax), voltage at maximum power (Vmp) and current at maximum power (Imp) increase with cooling and increasing flow rate for all modules due to decreased PV temperature. Keywords renewable energy, PV modules, water cooling, thermal efficiency, electrical efficiency.