LAPSE:2020.0150
Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0150
Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City
February 3, 2020
There is no denial that renewable energy is considered to be the most cost-competitive source of clean power in many parts of the world. Saudi Arabia’s vision 2030 aims at achieving the best by using different sources of renewable energy such as solar energy, wind energy, and others. The use of solar energy in particular for power generation will decrease the dependency on oil, and thus, decrease the greenhouse gasses. Solar panels efficiency tends to decrease with the accumulation of dust on their surface. Thus, a cleaning process requires assigning and employing labor, which increases the cost of running as well as high cost of machinery. The current study focuses on assessing and designing a simple auto self-cleaning system in order to improve the efficiency of the solar panel. The results showed that for the Al-Khobar region, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the efficiency of the solar panels after cleaning was increased from 6% to an average of 12% at nominal temperature of 27 °C. In addition, the average power output was increased by 35% during the day time. In addition, the normal efficiency of the solar panels before cooling was between 10% to 15% at 42 °C. After cooling, the temperature of solar cells decreased to 20 °C and the efficiency increased by 7%. Moreover, the output power was increased by 31% with maximum efficiency of 32% at noon time.
Record ID
Keywords
cleaning, cooling, efficiency, photovoltaic systems, real case study, Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Subject
Suggested Citation
Nader N, Al-Kouz W, Al-Dahidi S. Assessment of Existing Photovoltaic System with Cooling and Cleaning System: Case Study at Al-Khobar City. (2020). LAPSE:2020.0150
Author Affiliations
Nader N: Mechanical Engineering Department, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar 31952, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Al-Kouz W: Mechanical Engineering Department, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar 31952, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Department of Mechatronics Engineering, School of Applied Technical Sciences, German Jordanian University, Amman 11180, Jordan
Al-Dahidi S: Department of Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering, School of Applied Technical Sciences, German Jordanian University, Amman 11180, Jordan [ORCID]
Al-Kouz W: Mechanical Engineering Department, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar 31952, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Department of Mechatronics Engineering, School of Applied Technical Sciences, German Jordanian University, Amman 11180, Jordan
Al-Dahidi S: Department of Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering, School of Applied Technical Sciences, German Jordanian University, Amman 11180, Jordan [ORCID]
Journal Name
Processes
Volume
8
Issue
1
Article Number
E9
Year
2019
Publication Date
2019-12-19
Published Version
ISSN
2227-9717
Version Comments
Original Submission
Other Meta
PII: pr8010009, Publication Type: Journal Article
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Published Article
LAPSE:2020.0150
This Record
External Link
doi:10.3390/pr8010009
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Version History
[v1] (Original Submission)
Feb 3, 2020
Verified by curator on
Feb 3, 2020
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v1
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https://psecommunity.org/LAPSE:2020.0150
Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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