Abstract
Power generation through solar photovoltaic (PV) is quite attractive due to direction generation of power from radiation and simplicity in construction. The major concern of the solar PV is 10–15% efficiency, i.e. larger land area requirement per kW of power generation. Concentrated solar PV system is one of the options to enhance the power generation in unit area. But the implication is increase in panel temperature, in turn, reducing the cell efficiency. The researchers proposed cooling of panels using water, air, phase change materials etc. to maintain lower temperature. This paper presents experimental investigation of a concentrating solar PV integrated with water sprinkler to enhance power and generate hot water. The experimentation has been performed in Ahmedabad, Gujarat (23.02°N, 72.57°E). Result analysis of various configurations of solar panels with and without concentrators and water sprinkler has been performed. To make sure the repeatability, each configuration has been experimented for two different days. Performance parameters such as electrical efficiency and overall efficiency have been used to compare the different configurations. The result analysis shows enhancement of power along with the generation of hot water in comparison to conventional solar PV system.
