Rendy Adhi Rachmanto, Zainal Arifin, Singgih Dwi Prasetyo, Muhammad Salman Alfaridzi, Noval Fattah Alfaiz, Mohd Afzanizam Mohd Rosli
Energy has been essential in economic and human development worldwide over the past few decades. However, using conventional energy, especially from fossil fuels, has led to negative impacts such as air pollution, climate change, and dependence on non-renewable energy sources. Indonesia’s position along the equator offers significant potential for harnessing solar energy. However, the electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) panels tends to decline as their operating temperature rises. To address this, photovoltaic thermal collectors (PV/T), thermal collectors placed beneath the panels’ surface, are employed to lower the PVs’ operating temperature. This approach aims to enhance the cooling and overall efficiency of solar cells. This research will study the cooling of PV panels using nano-fluid with variations of Al2O3, CuO, and TiO2. The findings indicate that varying the type of nanofluid can enhance the heat transfer rate within the photovoltaic thermal collector (PV/T) system. The thermal efficiencies recorded for the PV/T system using Al2O3, CuO, and TiO2 as coolants were 69.71%, 73.11%, and 71.75%, respectively. Correspondingly, the electrical efficiencies achieved were 10.12%, 13.26%, and 12.17%. From this study, it can be seen that CuO nano-fluid has a better cooling configuration than others. Copyright: ©2025 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, 57126, Indonesia; Power Plant Engineering Technology, State University of Malang, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Fakulti Teknologi dan Kejuruan Mekanikal, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Malaka, Durian Tunggal, 76110, Malaysia
