Influence of cooling water flow rate and temperature on the photovoltaic panel power

The photovoltaic panel cooled by a water flowing is commonly used in the study of solar cell to generate the electrical and thermal power outputs of the photovoltaic module. A practical method is therefore required for predicting the distributions of temperature and photovoltaic panel powers over time. In this study, the second-degree polynomial models were established to predict the distributions of temperature and various photovoltaic panel powers, while the linear models were used to analyse the correlation between solar power input and various photovoltaic panel powers. The results showed that the maximum values of electrical power, thermal power and power loss reached at the temperature around noontime. The same value of a photovoltaic panel power recorded at two temperatures was verified from the experiment of photovoltaic panel cooled with different cooling water flow rates. A volumetric flow rate of cooling water passing through the copper tubes determines the amount and characteristics of additional electrical power generated by the water-cooled photovoltaic panel, while a power loss in the photovoltaic panel is very sensitive to the rate of water flow. This study provides a new insight into the management of solar energy for the residential and commercial purposes in the future.