Improving the Performance of Photovoltaic Solar Panels Using Argon-Filled Double-Glazing Cover as a Radiative Cooling

Abstract

This study presents a new radiative cooling method to mitigate the radiation effect on a photovoltaic panel using a glass cover consisting of two glass panels. The gap between the perfectly sealed glass layers is filled with Argon gas as a heat suppressant. The assessment of the new proposed idea is performed experimentally and numerically. An experimental setup has been designed and fabricated to measure the required parameters for the system performance evaluation. The research parameters included design parameters such as the gap height between the glass layers at 10, 15, 20 and 25 mm. The tests were performed on various solar irradiances over the day. The output voltage, current, and temperatures at various locations were also recorded to permit performance evaluation. The investigations were extended by computational simulation to visualize the thermal situation at various design parameters. The results showed that there was a decrease in the panel surface temperature of the photovoltaic panels after adding the glass cover. By installation of the double glassing cover with a 20 mm gap, the surface temperature was reduced by between 5℃-9℃. Such temperature reduction demonstrates the success of the novel idea of an Argon-filled double-glassing cover. The maximum efficiency was increased to 14.2% for a panel with the added radiative cooler compared to 12.1% for a regular panel without cover under the same operating conditions.