Diurnal analysis of enhanced solar photovoltaic systems using automatic cooling mechanism

Africa and Nigeria in particular are blessed with abundance of sunshine throughout the year. Unfortunately, the region is associated with high temperature values which is a major factor militating against the efficiency of photovoltaic systems in use today. Since for each degree rise in temperature, about 0.50% efficiency is lost, then this implies that once a photovoltaic panel enters the Nigeria atmosphere about 5%-10% of its maximum power is lost. To tackle this problem, a cooling mechanism has to be incorporated into photovoltaic system design for adequate cooling and temperature monitoring. A smart automatic cooling mechanism and a smart photovoltaic MPPT tester were deployed in the study. In situ measurements were obtained in outdoor real-time conditions. The results reveal better performances for voltage, current, power and efficiency for the photovoltaic module whose temperatures was regulated not to exceed the threshold temperature of 350C. This study shows and suggest that lowering the panel temperature of photovoltaics through the application of cooling mechanism should be considered in the design of photovoltaic systems.