Experimental study for thermal regulation of photovoltaic panels using saturated zeolite with water.

• Experimental study on the effect of using saturated zeolite for cooling solar panels. • Different system configurations were measured at different solar radiations of 600, 800 and 1000 W/m2. • Temperature reduction of approximately 14.9 °C and 9 °C for radiation intensities of 600 and 1000 W/m2 respectively was achieved. This paper presents a novel experimental work for cooling photovoltaic panels using water saturated zeolite/activated alumina. Different system configurations, with 4 different zeolite thicknesses, were tested indoor. Moreover, the zeolite was tested with different added components (fins and metal mesh/particles) for enhancing the system performance. Three different radiations intensities were set for a period of 6 h and the results were compared with the uncooled system. The experimental results showed a significant solar panels temperature reduction of approximately 14.9 °C and 9 °C for radiation intensities of 600 and 1000 W/m2 respectively. The expected electrical efficiency, according to this temperature reduction, was calculated and an average enhancement of 10% and 7% at radiation of 600 and 1000 W/m2 intensity respectively was estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]