Investigation on Pressure-Swirl Atomization for Cooling and Efficiency Improvement of Photovoltaic Cells

Abstract

An efficient cooling system can effectively reduce the temperature and improve the power generation efficiency of photovoltaic cells. In this paper, a small flow pressure-swirl atomizer is utilized to cool a photovoltaic cell, and an experimental rig for spray cooling of photovoltaic cells was constructed. Firstly, the effects of the atomizer on spray cone angle, flow rate, droplet size, and velocity were studied under various aperture sizes and pressures to elucidate the spray characteristics. Then, the atomizer is used to cool the photovoltaic cell, and the effects of atomizers with different aperture sizes and pressures on the cooling effect and power generation efficiency of the photovoltaic cell are tested. The results show that using an atomizer to cool the photovoltaic cell can effectively reduce the working temperature, improve power generation efficiency and net power output. The power generation efficiency and net power output ratio can increase by a maximum of 10.52% and 6.57%, respectively, while simultaneously reducing the net cost by 6.76%. This research unveils a practical and cost-effective method for temperature control in PV cell farms, making it an immensely significant development for the PV industry.

Keywords: photovoltaic cells, spry cooling, atomization, efficiency, economy