| Work Detail |
Jordanian researchers have developed a method that uses acrylic sheets to reflect and absorb solar radiation not used in photovoltaic power generation. The solution can reduce the temperature of solar panels by more than 14% and increase energy efficiency by approximately 2%.
Scientists at Jordans Mutah University have tried to reduce the operating temperature of photovoltaic panels by placing transparent acrylic sheets at different inclinations on the modules at a distance of approximately 30 cm.
According to the researchers, the 3mm acrylic sheets can reflect and absorb 10% of solar radiation with wavelengths less than 1.1µm, which is insufficient to excite electrons in photovoltaic power generation. They believe that this unused radiation contributes to increasing the temperature of the panel and reducing its performance.
“All this wasted solar radiation does nothing more than heat the photovoltaic panel and increase the surface temperature,” the researchers say.
For their experiments, the researchers used three monocrystalline solar panels inclined at 30 degrees, each with a power of 50 W, dimensions of 630 mm x 540 mm x 18 mm and a weight of 3.3 kg.
They used one panel as a reference without the acrylic sheet, while the second panel had a sheet installed 30mm apart at variable inclinations of 15, 30 and 45 degrees. The third panel had a sheet mounted parallel at the same distance.
Through analysis and testing, the scientists found that the panel with slopes of 30 and 45 degrees experienced the greatest temperature reduction, at 14.5%, while the panel with the sheet mounted in parallel achieved a decrease of around 10%. .
“Reducing the PV surface temperature led to an increase in PV electrical efficiency and power output of around 2% each,” they explained. “The results of all the experiments demonstrated that the installation of a transparent acrylic sheet reduces the temperature of the photovoltaic surface, improves the performance, increases the production of electrical energy and extends the useful life of the cells”. |
