Experimental performance evaluation of tracking photovoltaic system based on variable water flow rate with surface temperature

ABSTRACT

A solar tracking system with an effective cooling technique is developed and implemented. Due to the solar radiation, high ambient temperature and dusty climate condition affected photovoltaic panel power production. A single east–west solar tracking system incorporating monocrystalline panel and a front surface spray water cooling system was conducted and compared to a fixed reference panel. The water flow rate is adjustable according to the set point temperature of the panel surface. The experiment was conducted during the summer season in north of Iraq (latitude 36.191° and longitude 44.009°). The study revealed that the implementation of the tracking system results in 4.19% increase in power production, while tracking with a cooling system has resulted in an improvement of up to 25.11% in Photovoltaic efficiency. The water consumption has been optimized, and the optimal cooling setting temperature was determined to be 40°C. Additionally, this model demonstrates that the performance of photovoltaic panel was decreased by only 0.2%–0.3%, when the surface temperature increased by 5°C within a range of 25–40°C.

KEYWORDS:

• Photovoltaic panel
• tracking system
• flow rate
• water cooling
• electrical performance

Disclosure statement

The authors have declared that they do not have any financial or any other personal interest to disclose.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sally Afram Polus

Sally Afram Polus was born in Erbil Iraq in 1990. She holds Bachler degree in mechanical engineering (refrigeration and air conditioning from Erbil Technical Engineering College, Erbil, Iraq in 2012. She received a Master's degree in mechanical and energy engineering from the Mechanical and energy Engineering Department/ Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq in 2016. Currently, she is a lecturer and PhD student at Mechanical and Energy Engineering Techniques Department, Erbil Technical Engineering College, Erbil Polytechnic University, Erbil, Iraq.

Ranj Sirwan Abdullah

Ranj Sirwan was born in Baghdad Iraq in 1980. He holds Bachler degree in mechanical engineering (refrigeration and air conditioning from Baghdad Technical College, Baghdad, Iraq in 2002. He received a Master's degree in mechanical engineering from the Mechanical Engineering Department/ University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq in 2006. While, he accomplished his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment at National University of Malaysia (UKM), Bangi, Malaysia in 2013. Ranj Sirwan published many papers in international and national journals in the field of thermo-energy such as Solar system, renewable energy, energy conversion and energy management. Associate Prof. Sirwan currently, is the director of International Relations Office at the Erbil Polytechnic University and the board member of the Polytechnic Journal and the promotion committee at the university.