Experimental and technoeconomic comparison of honeycomb pad and earthen pot evaporative cooling for photovoltaic panels

This study experimentally compares an uncooled photovoltaic (PV) panel with two low‐cost evaporative cooling configurations under identical outdoor conditions in Nagpur, India. A system comprises a pump assisted honeycomb‐pad evaporative cooling system (PV‐HCEC) and a passive earthen pot evaporative water‐cooling system (PV‐EPEWC). PV‐HCEC was tested at water flow rates of 1, 3, and 5 LPM, whereas PV‐EPEWC operated through natural thermosyphon circulation. The reference panel reached maximum internal and front surface temperatures of 63 and 68°C, respectively. At 5 LPM, PV‐HCEC reduced these temperatures to 49 and 47°C, while PV‐EPEWC reduced them to 54 and 52°C. The maximum electrical efficiency increased from 10.71% for the reference panel to 18.06% for PV‐HCEC and 16.01% for PV‐EPEWC. The maximum thermal and overall efficiencies were 69.65% and 82.89% for PV‐HCEC and 62.97% and 75.80% for PV‐EPEWC, respectively. PV‐HCEC achieved an electricity cost of 5.44 INR kWh −1 , an annualized LCOE of 7.06 INR kWh −1 , a simple payback period of 6.258 years, an energy payback time of 1.52 years, and net CO 2 mitigation of 6.16 t year −1 . The results demonstrate that PV‐HCEC provides stronger thermal and techno‐economic performance, whereas PV‐EPEWC offers a simpler pump‐free option for decentralized and resource‐constrained applications.