An experimental study on increasing efficiency of solar cell modules by flat heat pipe cooling

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to improve the efficiency of solar cell modules by cooling with heat pipes. The test set consisted of three 80 watt solar modules that were made of mono-crystalline. The first module did not install heat pipes, while the second module installed heat pipes using ethanol as the working fluid and the third module installed heat pipes using R-11 as working fluid. Solar radiation intensity, electrical energy produced by the solar modules, and temperature of the solar modules were recorded. The results showed that the average temperature of the first solar cell module was 52.9oC and the case of not install heat pipes on module. For the units with heat pipes, it was found that unit with ethanol heat pipe had an average temperature of 50.7oC and efficiency at 10.2%, whereas the unit using R-11 heat pipe had an average temperature at 49.2oC and efficiency at 11.8% From the experiments, it was concluded that the installation of heat pipes could increase the efficiency of solar cell mokules.