A photovoltaic (PV) module’s electrical efficiency depends on the operating temperature of the cell. Electrical efficiency reduces with increasing PV module temperature which is one of the drawbacks of this technology. This is due to the negative temperature coefficient of a PV module which decreases its voltage significantly while the current increases slightly. This study combines both active and passive cooling mechanisms to improve the electrical output of a PV module. A heat sink made up of aluminum fins and an ultrasonic humidifier were used to cool the panel. The ultrasonic humidifier was used to generate a humid environment at the rear side of the PV module. The cooling process in the study was able to reduce the temperature of the panel averagely by 14.61 °C. This reduction led to a 6.8% improvement in the electrical efficiency of the module. The average power of 12.23 W was recorded for the cooled panel against 10.87 W for the referenced module. In terms of water consumption, a total of 1.5 L was approximately consumed during the whole experimental process due to evaporation. In effect, the proposed cooling approach was demonstrated as effective.

The significance of optimizing the content of components of a radiation-protective material, which is determined by the isotopic composition of radioactive contamination, depending on the reactor...

The low freshwater productivity of a conventional solar still is considered a challenge for researchers due to the high temperature of the glass cover or basin water depth. In current work, a newly designed solar still was suggested according to the climatic conditions of Yekaterinburg/Russia, which included an enhanced condensation and evaporation process by spraying a thin water film on a hot absorber plate and then passing the generated water vapor by free convection over the aluminum plate (low temperature). The distillation system under study was tested during July 2020 and 29 July was chosen as a typical day from 08:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The results showed that the largest amount of water vapor condenses on the aluminum plate (about 46%), and the rest condenses on the glass cover. This means that the aluminum plate effectively improved productivity due to the flow of humid air naturally (free convection) on the aluminum plate (its surface temperature was lower than that of the glass cover). The cost analytical calculations showed that the cost of producing one liter of distilled water from the suggested solar still was 0.063$.