Water cooled solar panels for significant output boost

[jflorey2]

how about mounting bi-facial panels upside down in the shade ?

Or large air conditioners to keep them nice and cool.

[J.P.M.]

it would likely increase module output consistency.

Yea, entropy increases regression toward the mean as does consensus building.

[shocksofmighty]

Just in case anyone is continuing to follow this thread, I'll just provide a few links to the data that I've been collecting. I saw no retaliation to my previous screencaps showing that sprayed panels do get a boost vs. non-sprayed panels. I've switched over to a different sprinkler system that lets me do shorter cooling runs, albeit with a higher wattage consumption pump. I don't have control panels in this scenario, but I think it has already been established that the cooler a panel is the higher the output.

Here is a day before I've turned cooling on.

Here is the subsequent day with cooling.

Here is an overlay of the of two comparing AC power output from the inverter, array temp (from the same 4 temp probes on the panels) and ambient temp. Notice between ~9:00 AM and 12:30 PM (you can select areas of the graph by highlighting with a mouse; clouds started rolling in on both days after that). I can't account of wind in this setup, but you can see from ambient temps., module temps, and the output prior to cooling beginning (~10:30 AM) that the days are comparable. Go back to the second link and look when cooling starts (blue bars) and when there is separation between the power output. In this setup I can keep the panels close to 45 C over the cooling period which amounts to about +500 W. Because of the cloud coverage, this is really only clear for about 2 hours, but probably extends to about 4 hours, or about +2 kWH for this particular day. You can subtract the pump usage (measured with an AC Killawatt meter on the power supply supplying the pumps) directly from the second link (168 Wh) and see there is clearly a net gain.

[Sunking]

This SCAM still running.

[shocksofmighty]

The reason one presents data/evidence is to let people judge for themselves. If you have no refutation to the actual data you are (or still are) just hot air.

[J.P.M.]

The reason one presents data/evidence is to let people judge for themselves. If you have no refutation to the actual data you are (or still are) just hot air.

I don't consider what opinion may be offered here as hot air, but what you've presented seems to me anyway, as best as my ignorance can make out, and aside from incomplete for the claims being made, presented in a way not to be a good aid or help in bolstering your claims.

[ButchDeal]

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0017931013003499/1-s2.0-S0017931013003499-main.pdf?_tid=faa3564e-7901-11e6-b8db-00000aab0f27&acdnat=1473696188_cadef67b312b0eacf53a91bd5ff36beb

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/63474.pdf

http://www.appropedia.org/Combined_photovoltaic_solar_thermal_systems_(PVT)_literature_review

[shocksofmighty]

I don't consider what opinion may be offered here as hot air, but what you've presented seems to me anyway, as best as my ignorance can make out, and aside from incomplete for the claims being made, presented in a way not to be a good aid or help in bolstering your claims.

What specifically as presented do you not understand? I will attempt to clarify.

[SunEagle]

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0017931013003...3a91bd5ff36beb

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy15osti/63474.pdf

http://www.appropedia.org/Combined_photovoltaic_solar_thermal_systems_(PVT)_literature_review

After a quick read of those papers the ROI did not look good for anywhere except maybe HI. Or did I get the wrong impression that cooling PV panels was not an economical good idea?

[ButchDeal]

that is what I got as well.

[Sunking]

I don't consider what opinion may be offered here as hot air, but what you've presented seems to me anyway, as best as my ignorance can make out, and aside from incomplete for the claims being made, presented in a way not to be a good aid or help in bolstering your claims.

You have no data, just imaginary make believe. I would bet you have made a Bendini Oscillator aka SSG Motor and belong to Over Unity Energy Group.

[Harish]

A Solar company in India...

---Mod Note: Harish, stop this now or you will be banned permanently.

[shocksofmighty]

You have no data, just imaginary make believe. I would bet you have made a Bendini Oscillator aka SSG Motor and belong to Over Unity Energy Group.

You've got me pegged. Card carrying member.

Clearly I have been defeated by the Vacuumking.

[J.P.M.]

What specifically as presented do you not understand? I will attempt to clarify.

Your data presentation and lack of description, but my ignorance is of no real import.

Butch's attachment post has the types of information and references to other sources that have gone before you, and are of the type I've been using for a long time. While your stuff is interesting and informative for you and me as well, it appears that you, like many others in a way that's becoming more common, have not looked for or noticed what's already been done in an area of research and are reinventing the wheel or covering ground that's already been travelled.

That's one theme I and others have been posting about in this thread, and maybe why Butch's 0903 A.M. post is due an attoboy for elegantly saying/showing the same without the histrionics.

[J.P.M.]

After a quick read of those papers the ROI did not look good for anywhere except maybe HI. Or did I get the wrong impression that cooling PV panels was not an economical good idea?

For small systems the thinking seems to be it ain't worth the money or hassle, and for large systems a better probability of being cost effective in warm/hot climates , but not where cheap fuel is available.

[Ian S]

For small systems the thinking seems to be it ain't worth the money or hassle, and for large systems a better probability of being cost effective in warm/hot climates , but not where cheap fuel is available.

So, not a scam but not really practical except in a few limited situations.