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An international research team has developed a hybrid photovoltaic-evaporative cooling system designed to raise electrical efficiency in PV modules while also supplying precooled ventilation air, according to pv magazine. The work, reported by the publication, combines rear-side evaporative cooling through water-soaked cellulose pads with intermittent water spraying on the front face of the PV module.
The corresponding author, Deyaa M.N. Mahmood, told the publication that the central advance is an integrated dual-effect cooling framework aimed at countering thermal and electrical degradation in hyper-arid desert conditions such as those in Iraq. Beyond recovering electrical output, Mahmood said, the system uses conditioned exhaust airflow, with controlled temperature and humidity, to provide secondary building ventilation and thereby lower indoor cooling loads.
The setup places a water-soaked cellulose pad behind a PV module and adds intermittent front-side spraying. A pump recirculates water through the pad, and a 35 W fan pulls air through it, cooling the module and producing cooler, humidified ventilation air. Front-side spraying begins when module temperature rises above 45 C, with water released in bursts of roughly 10 to 20 seconds.
The researchers compared two identical 150 W PV modules, one cooled and one uncooled, on a rooftop in Baghdad, Iraq. Testing took place on clear days between July 1 and Sept. 15, 2023, during the hours of 09:00 to 15:00.
In a first scenario, the team tested rear-side cooling with cellulose pads of 50 mm, 100 mm, and 150 mm thickness and water flow rates from 1 L/min to 3 L/min. In a second scenario, front-side spraying was added, using a 50 mm pad at 2 L/min and a 100 mm pad at 3 L/min. At a fixed air velocity of 3 m/s, the researchers measured module temperature, electrical output, efficiency, and outlet-air temperature and humidity.
Mahmood described the most notable outcome as strong thermal regulation stability under peak solar irradiation. He said the combination of intermittent front-side spraying and backside evaporative cooling produced a rapid drop in operating cell temperatures, which translated into a large and sustained recovery of electrical efficiency relative to unmanaged reference panels. According to Mahmood, this indicates that highly effective thermal management can be engineered with sustainable, low-energy processes even under extreme desert conditions.
Results showed that rear-side evaporative cooling in the first scenario lowered PV module temperature by about 20 C compared with the uncooled module. The cooled air delivered to the space averaged around 35 C. In the second scenario, adding intermittent front-side spraying produced a maximum module temperature reduction of 29.7 C.
The researchers reported maximum efficiency gains of 13.3%, 9.3%, and 14.2% for the 50 mm, 100 mm, and 150 mm pads, respectively, in the first scenario. For the 100 mm pad, average PV panel temperature reduction rose from 15.0 C without front-side spraying to 29.7 C with front-side spraying, while the average power output difference increased from 8.3 W to 16.7 W. Across both scenarios, the highest maximum efficiency enhancements were 14.2% for the 150 mm pad in the first scenario and 26% for the 100 mm pad in the second.
The second configuration also reduced supply-air temperature to approximately 30 C to 33 C at around 62% relative humidity. The researchers indicated this could support passive precooling and ventilation rather than serving as a stand-alone thermal comfort solution.
Mahmood said ongoing and upcoming work is moving toward intelligent optimization, with the team integrating AI and Internet of Things technologies to run real-time, multi-objective control algorithms. He said the main goal of this phase is to dynamically regulate water spraying and airflow rates to achieve the lowest possible water consumption while maintaining peak electrical and thermal performance for large-scale commercial deployments.
The article, titled Performance enhancement of a hybrid photovoltaic-evaporative cooling system for hot arid regions, appeared in Results in Engineering.
The research group included scientists from Iraq’s Middle Technical University, the University of Baghdad, and the University of Fallujah, as well as Sweden’s University of Gavle, Qatar’s University of Doha for Science and Technology, Sudan’s Nile Valley University and Sudan University of Science and Technology, Serbia’s MB University Belgrade, and China University of Petroleum-Beijing.
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