More power from solar panels – just be cool

Solar panels need to be in the hot sun to be in business.

High sunshine – especially in tropical regions – might mean a lot of electricity generated, but this in most cases also implies that the panels can get quite hot.

Will high temperatures affect the output of the solar panels? They sure will.

Solar panels generate at their highest efficiency at ambient temperatures of 25 degrees C, and for every degree increase in temperature beyond that, their efficiency decreases.

Solar panels operating in a hot desert with ambient temperatures at 50 degrees C could thus operate at a 12-15% lower efficiency – resulting in significant decrease in electricity output.

That’s a lot of electricity lost – especially for large scale solar power plants in such regions which could run to 100s of MWs in a single location.

The obvious solution is to cool these solar panels so that their temperatures reach close to 25 degrees C, and such cooling is being attempted using both air and water.

By the way

Ambient temperatures much lower than 25 degrees C can also result in lower panel efficiencies. These are however relatively less of a concern compared to higher temperatures, as most large solar power plants operate in regions with high temperatures and not low temperatures.