Performance enhancement of PV panels by a channel shaped heat exchanger with an electromechanical control

Photovoltaic panels are considered one of the important practical applications in converting solar energy into electrical energy, but they suffer from the effect of heat associated with solar radiation. Therefore, much research has been done to either harness the heat that comes with it or eliminate it by cooling the panel and boosting its effectiveness. In this work, a cooling box was designed and manufactured locally (the passage design is new) that is attached to the back wall as part of the panel without inserting an absorbent portion between it and the water to cool the panel. The new model was subjected to numerical and experimental tests to ascertain its efficacy in raising PV panel efficiency. ANSYS R19.2 software was used to compare numerical simulations with experimentally obtained results. The results showed good agreement between the two tests. The results also showed that the new model was able to raise the electrical efficiency of PV panels compared to the results of traditional panels without cooling, from 12.97% under the radiation intensity of 1035 W/m² to 14.87% under the same radiation intensity at a water flow rate of 4 L/min, this means an improvement of up to 12.78%. On the other hand, the control system reduced water consumption by 29.28% of the consumed water to maintain the efficiency ratio at semi-stable levels to its highest value of 15.37%, thus achieving an improvement of up to 15.56% for the same conditions above.