Performance Evaluation of Photovoltaic Solar System with Different Cooling Methods and a Bi-Reflector PV System (BRPVS): An Experimental Study and Comparative Analysis

Reducing the price of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has been a constant challenge. Despite recent advances, solar PV systems are still more costly than conventional energy resources. For the first time, this study examines the effectiveness of three different structures/materials: (i) silvered glass plane mirror; (ii) convex spherical mirrors; and (iii) aluminum (Al) foil as reflector. Comparative analysis of four different cooling techniques, i.e., water sprinkling system, passive heat sink method, active air fan method, and closed loop method, for enhancement of output power was performed. A novel Bi reflector solar PV system (BRPVS) was suggested to control the working of the reflectors. The Al foil enhanced the power output compared to the others. In addition, the effect of using a reflector on the temperature of a solar PV system was studied. High operating temperatures resulted in a decrease in the maximum output power under the same solar radiation conditions. The combined enhancement of the output power by both Al foil BRPVS system and cooling system was almost 22.75–38.55%. An optimal control algorithm to use cooling and BRPVS in an efficient manner is described.