It might seem a little counterintuitive, but sometimes solar panels of the silicon PV variety can get too hot for maximum output. Given that challenge, a system to cool the panels efficiently and cheaply is the target of researchers.
PV Magazine reported on a promising effort by a team from Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC) in Thailand. The study, featuring a novel hydrogel system, was published in the Advanced Materials Technologies journal.
"We produced a passive cooling system requiring significantly less material but producing very high cooling capacity and cooling power compared with the benchmarks," corresponding author Pichaya Pattanasattayavong told PV Magazine.
Their hydrogel addresses temperatures on solar panels that can rise up to 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit) and cut down on output by up to 18%, according to the researchers. Their hydrogel featured two polymers that they placed on the back of metal sheets connected to PV panels given to the team by Kitronik, a U.K. manufacturer.
The scientists tweaked the hydrogels for the size of the solar cells and higher temperatures in the study. They reported in the study that they were able to cut the temperature by 23 degrees from 70 to 47 degrees Celsius (158 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit). That created a subsequent 12.3% power conversion efficiency when compared to conventional solutions.
"The most surprising was to see the drastic change in temperature of PV solar cells after having applied our material," Pattanasattayavong revealed to PV Magazine. "Remarkably, 90% less material is required to achieve [this]."
Not only did the researchers save on material, but their hydrogel also weighed in at 80-85% less than other efforts. The VISTEC team's breakthrough joins an array of efforts to optimize solar energy as one of the most innovative and fastest-growing clean energy sources.
Other work in these areas includes creating coatings to address surface defects and designing more efficient and sustainable panels for the future. Making the manufacturing of solar panels increasingly cost-effective and resource-efficient will aid the transition away from finite dirty energy sources to renewable energy.
That could play a major role in slowing overall pollution, addressing the troubling warming of the planet, and cutting down on the trend toward more and more extreme weather events.
For homeowners, putting up solar panels is one of the easiest ways to save on your energy bill and build resiliency for power outages while boosting the grid.
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Energy independence âš¡ Next up for the VISTEC researchers are a couple of steps to make their hydrogel method a reality on a greater scale.
"We have received highly positive feedback from our industrial partners who are interested in upgrading the technology readiness level of our findings towards practical deployment," Pattanasattayavong told PV Magazine.
Pattanasattayavong said one step will be improving their process of producing and applying the hydrogel material to the back of PV solar cells. Another initiative will be discovering more about the nuances of their material's structure and its impact on the cooling rate and power.
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