Effect of using Al2O3 / TiO2 hybrid nanofluids on improving the photovoltaic performance

• Published in: Case studies in thermal engineering 2023-07, Vol.47, p.103112, Article 103112
• Main Author: Murtadha, Talib K.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cooling photovoltaic; Hybrid nanofluid; Nanofluids; PV Efficiency; PV surface Temperature
• ISSN: 2214-157X; 2214-157X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.csite.2023.103112

The main purpose of using nanofluids in this study is cooling the photovoltaic panels to obtain the best PV performance, such as increasing the efficiency, lifespan and power output. This study used a 2 wt% Al2O3/TiO2 hybrid nanofluid coolant to determine its effects and evaluate them with those of previous studies that used each of Al2O3 and TiO2 at same concentrations. The system, which has been used in this work, consists of three photovoltaic panels having the same specifications but with different methods of cooling in one-pass flow. The first photovoltaic panel PV-1 was cooled by using 2 wt% Al2O3/TiO2 hybrid nanofluid. The second panel PV-2 was cooled by water only, while the third PV-3 was utilized without cooling. Experiments were carried out at various rates of the flow of cooling fluid ranging from (0.5 L/min) - (3 L/min). Results were compared with the reference panel PV-3. The maximum output powers were (46.6, 45.1 and 41.9 W) for cooling by hybrid nanofluid, water only, and uncooled panel, respectively. That manifested an increasing in the output power by 11.2% in comparison with the uncooled panels. The temperature of hybrid nanofluid increased by (9.6 °C) compared with (8.4 °C) for cooling by water only. After using Al2O3/Tio2 hybrid nanofluid, it resulted in the highest increase (17.6%) in the electrical energy efficiency. The comparison with previous researches demonstrated that the optimum performance was attained while cooling the PV panels by using a 2 wt% hybrid nanofluid.