Efficiency enhancement of photovoltaic panels by cooling with nanofluid

In this thesis, nanofluid cooling study was carried out in order to reduce the losses caused by heating and increase the panel efficiency in PV panels. The study was carried out by lowering the temperature of the panel by passing fluid through the copper pipes laid on the back surface of the PV panels. And repeated with water and nanofluids. Al2O3 and TiO2 containing 1%, 0.1% and 0.01% particles by olüme were used as nanofluids. In the tests, 2 identical solar panels were used at the same time, and before starting the tests, two identical panels were operated at the same time and a coefficient was determined to equalize the current and voltage values. The purpose of determining this coefficient is to eliminate the power difference between the panels resulting from production. Then, the cooling system was started and the current and voltage values of the panels were recorded. According to the results, the voltage increased in the cooled panel. From the voltage viewpoint, by using water, Al2O3 (0.01%), Al2O3 (0.1%), Al2O3 (1%), TiO2 (0.01%), TiO2 (0.1%) and TiO2 (1%), the increase of the voltage of PV panels is 7.58%, 8.19%, 7.71%, 7.92%, 8.34%, 7.97% and 8.13%, respectively. When panel efficiencies are examined, an average efficiency is achieved 7.30% for water, while 7.32%, 6.89%, 7.55% by using Al2O3 (0.01%), (0.1%), (1%) respectively and by using TiO2 (0.01%), (0.1%) and (1%), it is 8.17%, 7.39% and 8.32%, respectively. When the values are examined, it is seen that TiO2 nanofluid provides more efficiency than Al2O3 nanofluid. When the nanofluid olüme fractions were examined, it was observed that the efficiency values of nanofluids containing 0.01% and 1% particles were close to each other, and the efficiency value of nanofluids containing 0.1% particles was lower than the others. As a result of the tests, it was determined that the optimum nanofluid percentage is 0.01%.