An Experimental Study on Increasing Efficiency of Solar Cell Modules by Flat Heat Pipe Cooling
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Abstract
The purpose of this research was to improve the efficiency of solar cell modules by cooling with heat pipes. The test set consists of three 80 watt solar modules that made of mono-crystalline. The first module did not install heat pipes, while the second module installed heat pipes using ethanol as the working fluid and the third module installed heat pipes using R-11 as working fluid respectively. Solar radiation intensity, electrical energy produced by the solar modules, and temperature of the solar modules were recorded. The results showed that the average temperature of the first solar cell module was 52.9 °C and the efficiency was 9.3%, in the case of did not install heat pipes on solar module. With the units with heat pipes, it was found that unit with ethanol heat pipe had an average temperature of 50.7 °C and efficiency at 10.2%, whereas the temperature of the unit using R-11 heat pipe had an average temperature at 49.2 °C and efficiency at 11.8%. From the experiments, it was concluded that the installation of heat pipes can increase the efficiency of solar cell modules.
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References
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