Aresearch team from India’s Visvesvaraya Technological University has experimentally compared two PV module cooling approaches – aluminum fins and a copper oxide (CuO)-water nanofluid – under identical operating conditions.
“In this work, two identical PV panels, one cooled by aluminum fins and the other by oxide (CuO) nanofluid, were used in a comparative experimental research,” the team said. “The goal of the experimental investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of two thermal management approaches passive and active cooling applied to PV panels and examine the influence of each approach on panel temperature as well as electrical output power.”
The researchers evaluated the systems based on module temperature and electrical performance. They tested two identical 100 W polycrystalline PV panels, each with a surface area of 0.67 m². Each module had an open-circuit voltage of 21.9 V, a maximum-power-point voltage of 18.1 V, a short-circuit current of 6.05 A, and a maximum-power-point current of 5.76 A.
The first module was equipped with an active, closed-loop cooling system that circulated a 3 wt% CuO-water nanofluid at 2 L/min using a 12 V, 0.5 A submersible DC pump. The nanofluid contained 30 g of commercially available CuO particles dispersed in distilled water. A 0.76 m × 0.58 m, 1 mm-thick copper plate was attached to the rear of the module. A total of 8.53 m of 9.5 mm-diameter copper tubing was welded to the plate in a serpentine arrangement to form the heat collector. The heated nanofluid then passed through a copper helical heat exchanger.
The second module used a passive cooling system consisting of eight longitudinal aluminum fins attached uniformly to its rear surface using heat-sink paste and adhesive glue. Six fins were 0.92 m long, while two were 0.80 m long. All fins were 0.06 m wide and 1 mm thick. The aluminum had a reported thermal conductivity of 237 W/mK. The fins were spaced 45 mm apart, creating seven airflow channels that dissipated heat through natural convection without pumps, circulating fluids, moving components, or auxiliary electricity.
The two systems were tested outdoors in Kalaburagi, in northern Karnataka, India. The city has a hot, semi-arid climate characterized by high ambient temperatures, strong solar irradiance, and long sunshine hours. The experiment was conducted on a sunny day on Dec. 23, 2025, with both panels installed in an open, unshaded area exposed to sunlight throughout the day. The identical modules were installed at an 18-degree tilt and oriented southeast.
Irradiance peaked between 12:00 and 15:00, reaching 705.4 W/m² at 13:00 before falling to 383.6 W/m² at 16:00.
“The CuO nanofluid cooled PV panel operated at an average temperature of 32.5 C, lower than the 44.7 C recorded for the aluminum finned PV panel,” the researchers said. “Consequently, the CuO nanofluid cooled panel exhibited a higher gross average power output of 91 W compared to 85 W for the aluminum finned panel. Similarly, the PV panels integrated with aluminum fin cooling and CuO nanofluid cooling demonstrated average electrical efficiencies of 23.6% and 25.1%, respectively.”
However, after accounting for the auxiliary power consumed by the 12 V circulating pump, the net electrical efficiency of the active CuO nanofluid cooling system was comparable to that of the passive aluminum finned panel.
“Under the hot and dry climatic conditions of Kalaburagi, the passive aluminum fin cooling method showed beneficial thermal management capability without needing auxiliary power, rendering it a straightforward, economical, and energy-efficient cooling solution for PV applications,” the researchers concluded.
Their findings were presented in “Experimental investigation of PV Panel using cupric oxide nanofluid and aluminum fin cooling techniques in Kalaburagi’s hot and dry climate,” published in Solar Energy Advances.
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