THERMAL SCIENCE

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Karthik Myilswamy

,

Kannan Kumaresan

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PV MODULE USING GRAPHENE HYDROPHOBIC NANO COATING COUPLED WITH TOP WATER COOLING

ABSTRACT
This research aims to enhance the efficiency of polycrystalline silicon solar photovoltaic panels by addressing the dual challenges of dust accumulation and tem-perature variations. The study investigates the effects of applying a hydrophobic graphene nanocoating on the top surface of the panels to prevent dust buildup, coupled with a top water-cooling system to regulate panel temperature. Outdoor experiments were conducted in Coimbatore, India, from 8:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m. under sunny conditions for 40 days. A total of eight identical photovoltaic panels were tested with various configurations, and performance parameters such as glass temperature, Tedlar® temperature, output power, solar radiation, ambient temperature, and wind speed were recorded. Experimental results show that the graphene nanocoating reduces panel temperature by 9.36% compared to the dusty panel and 3.8% compared to the uncoated, manually cleaned panel by day 40. The nanocoating alone increased power output and efficiency by 4.16% and 3.3%, respectively, compared to the uncoated, no-cooling panel. Additionally, the nano-coated, top water-cooled panels showed improvements of 16.87% in output power and 13.22% in efficiency compared to the uncoated, no-cooling panel, and 3.11% in power and 2.82% in efficiency compared to the uncoated, water-cooled panels. These results demonstrate that the combined application of graphene nanocoating and water cooling effectively enhances the performance and longevity of photovoltaic modules by reducing dust accumulation and regulating temperature.
KEYWORDS
PV performance, dust deposition, nano coating, top water cooling
PAPER SUBMITTED: 2024-08-03
PAPER REVISED: 2024-11-04
PAPER ACCEPTED: 2024-12-15
PUBLISHED ONLINE: 2025-02-16
DOI REFERENCE: https://doi.org/10.2298/TSCI240803008M
CITATION EXPORT: view in browser or download as text file
THERMAL SCIENCE YEAR 2025, VOLUME 29, ISSUE Issue 3, PAGES [2521 - 2533]
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Experimental investigation to improve the performance of the PV module using graphene hydrophobic nano coating coupled with top water cooling

2025 Society of Thermal Engineers of Serbia. Published by the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, National Institute of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International licence