Efficiency and sustainability assessment of evaporative cooling of photovoltaics

The cooling of PV has been shown to increase electricity production. Among passive techniques, evaporative cooling has one of the greatest potentials. In this work, the efficiency and sustainability of this technique have been investigated for various climatic conditions. In-situ experiments were co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy (Oxford) 2022-09, Vol.254, p.124260, Article 124260
Main Authors: Žižak, Tej, Domjan, Suzana, Medved, Sašo, Arkar, Ciril
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cooling water demand
Evaporative cooling
In-situ experiments
Optimisation
PV cells
Rainwater storage
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Summary:The cooling of PV has been shown to increase electricity production. Among passive techniques, evaporative cooling has one of the greatest potentials. In this work, the efficiency and sustainability of this technique have been investigated for various climatic conditions. In-situ experiments were conducted to develop parametric models for PV cell temperatures and back surface convective heat transfer coefficient. Experiments have revealed an up to 20.1 °C lower peak PV temperature and up to 9.6% increased electric power. Year-round analysis was made for eight cities to determine the required roof size to capture precipitation and the volume of rainwater storage for sustainable evaporative cooling. The study shows that sustainable PV evaporative cooling is possible in cities with temperate and continental climates, where 1–3 m2 of roof area and 50–150 l of rainwater storage are needed for 1 m2 of PV. The annual electricity production can increase by 5.9–9.4 kWh/m2a, which is a 3.6–4.6% increase. In the semi-arid climate of Lampedusa, a roof above 4 m2 and a storage of up to 500 l per m2 of PV are required. In the desert climate of Almeria and Athens, sustainable evaporative cooling is not feasible. •The efficiency and sustainability of evaporative cooling of PV cells was evaluated.•Parametric models for PV temperature and heat transfer coefficient were developed.•Heat and mass transfer analogy was validated and used to determine the water demand.•With sustainable evaporative cooling 5.9 to 11.3 kWh/m2PV more energy can be produced.•Up to 3 m2 of roof and 150 l of rainwater storage are required in continental climate.
ISSN:0360-5442
DOI:10.1016/j.energy.2022.124260