Improving the Electrical Efficiency of a Photovoltaic/Thermal Panel by Using SiC/Water Nanofluid as Coolant

For photovoltaic panels, high temperature has a major effect, reducing electrical efficiency and decreasing the panel's life span. In this work, an aluminum pocket collector was manufactured and fixed to the rear side of a photovoltaic panel to form a photovoltaic/thermal system (PV/T). A SiC/water nanofluid was used as coolant fluid with two volumetric concentrations (0.1 and 0.5%). The experiments were conducted outdoors at Babylon University (32.46 °N,44.42°E) in March. Different flow rates of SiC/Water nanofluid were tested (0.5,1,1.5 & 2 LPM). A comparison was made with another, identical, PV panel under the same conditions. SiC/water nanofluid had a noticeable effect on output power and results showed that the maximum enhancement in electrical efficiency was 33.27% with 0.5 % SiC/Water nanofluid and flow rate of 2 LPM,. and the maximum overall efficiency was 92.43 %.