­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­The aim of this study was to analyse the influence of temperature on electrical characteristics of crystalline and amorphous photovoltaic (PV) modules in outdoor conditions at Nawabshah. The experimental setup was made over the roof of the departmental building. The climatic conditions of site were recorded with the help of HP-2000 Professional Weather Station in three different timings of the day, i.e. morning, noon and evening. The electrical characteristics of the PV modules were recorded with Prova-210 and module temperatures with Prova-830. The maximum intensity of global solar radiation was recorded at noon and ambient temperature in the evening and the relative humidity in the morning hours. It was observed that amorphous module got 0.7°C, 1.0°C and 1.6°C more average temperature than polycrystalline, thin film and monocrystalline modules respectively. The average maximum measured open-circuit voltage was noted from amorphous with 96.7% and minimum from thin film with 81.3% of their respective values on standard conditions, whereas, the average maximum recorded short-circuit current was produced by thin film with 64.9% and minimum by amorphous with 51.4%. The average maximum power was produced by polycrystalline and minimum by amorphous module. It was discovered that the crystalline PV modules gave more fill factor than thin film and amorphous module.Article History: Received January 6th 2018; Received in revised form May 5th 2018; Accepted May 26th 2018; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Jatoi, A.R., Samo, S.R. and Jakhrani, A.Q. (2018). Influence of Temperature on Electrical Characteristics of Different Photovoltaic Module Technologies. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 7(2), 85-91.https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.7.2.85-91

The purpose of this study is to fabricate and analyze an active cooling system for reducing photovoltaic (PV) module temperature and increasing its efficiency. An active cooling system was devised to cool the PV module. Two modules of same specifications were used for this study. One module was cooled, and other was left un-cooled for performance comparison. Solar radiations, wind speed, ambient temperature and temperatures at different points of the fabricated system were measured. The modules were mounted on a frame facing true south at the inclination of the latitude of the location. The measurements were taken during daytime with one hour intervals for two weeks. The temperatures at various points on cooled and un-cooled photovoltaic modules were noted using two different flow rates with 1 lit/min and 2 lit/min. It was discovered that the efficiency of PV module was enhanced from 6% to 7% during study period. The flow rate of 1lit/min was found more feasible for heat extraction as compared to the flow rate of 2lit/min. The wind speed was found to be more helpful for heat extraction from the modules as compared to other climatic parameters.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of module temperature on the efficiency of polycrystalline (p-Si), monocrystalline (m-Si), amorphous (a-Si) and thin film photovoltaic modules at outdoor environment of Nawabshah city Pakistan. The experimental setup was made and installed over the top roof of departmental building. Weather conditions, such as global solar radiation, ambient temperature, wind speed and relative humidity, power output and temperature of all selected four types of module technologies were measured at the site by logging data. Then, the logged data was normalized because of different rated power of photovoltaic modules for comparison purpose. Results revealed that less temperature impact was noted from thin film module and thus it gave more normalized power with 45.6% among other examined modules. On the basis of overall efficiency, p-Si, m-Si, a-Si and thin film modules gave 92.4%, 93.7%, 94.4% and 95.4% yearly average normalized efficiencies respectively. It was found that temperature has more impact on the efficiency of other examined modules compared to thin film modules. Thus, it is concluded from the study that thin film module is better in outdoor environment of Nawabshah

It is prerequisite to predict the behaviour of photovoltaic (PV) modules in a particular geographical area where the system is to be installed for their better performance and increasing lifetime. For that, models are the easiest and acceptable tools to characterise the behaviour of PV modules in any location. The purpose of this study was to develop an empirical model to predict the influence of temperature on the performance of four different PV module technologies, namely, polycrystalline, monocrystalline, amorphous, and thin film in an outdoor environment. The model has been developed by fitting of one year experimental data using the least squares method. The estimated results of the developed model were validated with real-time data (winter and summer season) and a comparison of other existing model estimates using error analysis with 95% confidence interval. The proposed model estimations confirm that the monocrystalline module performs better in winter and polycrystalline in summer as compared to amorphous and thin film in the study area. During analysis, it is revealed that developed model results are more precise and appropriate among other existing model estimations. It is concluded that the proposed model estimations could be used for the prediction of PV module temperature in similar environmental conditions as that of the study area with more accuracy and confidence. It ultimately helps to develop cost-effective and efficient PV systems.

The main objective of this study was to analyze the performance of different filtration units that reduce turbidity, pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and electrical conductivity (EC) of canal water. For that, three different types of filtration units, namely, slow sand, rapid sand and dual media were fabricated. Typical parameters of canal and filtered water, like pH, turbidity, TDS and EC were examined, and then the filtered water quality was compared with World Health Organizations (WHO) standards. Maximum pH reduction was noted with dual media and less by the rapid system, while more turbidity was reduced with the slow sand and less with the dual media filtration system. In contrary to the pH and turbidity results, increment in both TDS and EC values were noted in filtered samples compared to that of raw water samples due to the transfer of dissolved minerals present in the sand into the filtered water during the contact period with media in the bed. However, all examined parameters of filtered water were within WHO standards.

A line focusing concentrated solar distillation unit was developed and its techno-economic analysis was carried out using batch flow, continuous flow without and with tracking mechanisms. Physical quality parameters of feed and distilled water samples, water temperature at different points, performance analysis and estimated production of developed unit were examined. The examined quality parameters of distilled water were well below permissible limits. The water temperature inside the concentrated tube was in the range of 107.0˚C to 109.0˚C. The quantity of distilled water was observed to be inversely proportional to the amount of total dissolved solids in the water samples. The measured average daily and estimated lifetime yield from the developed unit during batch flow was 4.0 and 13,621.0 liters, for continuous flow without tracking 5.1 and 19,689.0 liters, and with tracking mechanism 5.7 and 21,758.0 liters, respectively. The continuous flow with tracking mechanism was found as best method for the production of distilled water. The total life cycle cost of the project was estimated to be PKR 62,144.00. The estimated unit cost of the distilled water per liter would be PKR 6.06 for continuous flow with tracking and PKR 9.69 for batch flow technique. ©2019. CBIORE-IJRED. All rights reserved