Optimizing the performance of solar panel cooling apparatus by application of response surface methodology

Abstract

The high temperature of the solar photovoltaic module reduced the power output and efficiency of the solar panel. Water cooling is one of the best options for reducing the temperature of solar panels. In this research paper, an experimental setup of solar panel with water cooling arrangements has been developed and optimized. The measured experimental data and data generated by model equations have been optimized by the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) tool in the Design of Experiment. The optimized responses are the efficiency of solar panels, module temperature (MT) of solar panel, and exergetic efficiency. The main input parameters solar flux, water inlet velocity, and atmospheric temperature varied from 600 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2, 0.5 to 0.9 m/s, and 25°C to 45°C, respectively. The best set of input parameters after optimization in RSM is 705 W/m2 solar flux, 0.7263 m/s water inlet velocity, and 32.87°C atmospheric temperature on which the values of responses MT, exergetic efficiency and solar panel efficiency are 48.98 °C, 19.18 %, and 18.88 % respectively. The experimental setup of solar panel cooling has been run on these input parameters setting and responses are validated with the predicted value of the RSM and the previous research. The calculated percentage error in MT is 2.41%, solar panel efficiency is 1.62%, and exergetic efficiency is 3.82%.