A research team from Turkey’s Artvin Çoruh University has investigated the optimal parameters for cooling PV panels with electrospray.
This cooling technology, demonstrated by the same team in an earlier study, uses high voltage to turn liquid into fine, charged droplets that efficiently remove heat from a surface. That is, as the electric field breaks the liquid into ultra-fine droplets, it spreads more evenly while requiring less water.
“Our approach offers high cooling efficiency with minimal water consumption; it uses up to 100 times less coolant compared to traditional spray cooling while maintaining effective thermal regulation,” corresponding author Fatin Sönmez told pv magazine. “Our system demonstrates low power consumption and a simple setup that does not require mechanical pumps or complex circulation systems, which makes it an energy-efficient and compact alternative.”
However, Sönmez highlighted that the requirement for a high-voltage source increases the initial setup complexity and introduces safety considerations, potentially affecting implementation costs. “Our comprehensive optimization study determines the influential parameters and their optimal values for cooling PV panels using electrospray. Such a study had not been previously found in the literature,” he added.
The investigation relied on the response surface method (RSM), a statistical approach that runs a limited number of experiments to create a continuous mathematical model across all variables. Variables were measured under controlled laboratory conditions, with a 500 W halogen lamp projector serving as the light source, positioned 350 mm from the PV panel. The 530 W PV panel was positioned at a 90◦ angle to the horizontal.
Each variable was measured across three levels: Radiation severity was 800 W/m2, 900 W/m2 or 1,000 W/m2; coolant fluid flow rate was 20 ml/h, 60 ml/h, or 100 ml/h; electrical voltage generated between nozzle-PV panel was wither 17 kV, 19 kV or 21 kV; and distance between nozzle-PV panel was 3 cm, 5 cm or 7 cm.
Through their analysis, the scientists identified the optimal operating parameters for the PV panel as an irradiance of 1,000 W/m², a flow rate of 94.34 mL/h, a voltage of 17 kV, and a nozzle-to-panel distance of 5.5 cm. Under these conditions, the panel achieved a power output of 657.18 W. Two subsequent validation runs produced outputs of 665.42 W and 672.89 W, confirming the reliability of the optimized parameters.
“We found that increasing the distance between the nozzle and the PV panel positively affected the maximum power output only up to approximately 5 cm, after which it started to have an adverse effect due to the decreasing stress between the nozzle and the panel,” said Sönmez. “We also observed a saturation point with the coolant flow rate; increasing the flow rate boosted power output up to about 90 ml/h, but further increases had no additional effect on the amount of heat absorbed.”
According to the researchers, the most surprising result was that the electrical voltage between the nozzle and the PV panel did not affect the resulting power output parameter. “We are planning to extend these findings by investigating the electrospray cooling performance on industrial-scale panels under real outdoor conditions and varying solar irradiance throughout the day,” he concluded.
The research work was presented in “Determination of optimum parameters in photovoltaic panel with electrospray cooling,” published in Ain Shams Engineering Journal.
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