A Comprehensive Review of Research Works on Cooling Methods for Solar Photovoltaic Panels

Cheng Wang, Fumin Guo, Huijie Liu and Gang Wang ()
Additional contact information
Cheng Wang: Shandong Electric Power Engineering Consulting Institute Co., Ltd., Jinan 250013, China
Fumin Guo: Shandong Electric Power Engineering Consulting Institute Co., Ltd., Jinan 250013, China
Huijie Liu: Shandong Electric Power Engineering Consulting Institute Co., Ltd., Jinan 250013, China
Gang Wang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Northeast Electric Power University, Jilin 132012, China

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 16, 1-43

Abstract: Solar photovoltaic (PV) power is an important force in promoting the transformation of the energy structure. An increase in PV panel temperature reduces open-circuit voltage and fill factor, thereby increasing the recombination of internal charge carriers and leading to a decrease in the output power of PV systems. When PV panels operate in the environment, high solar intensity may rapidly heat PV panels to very high temperature levels, converting a significant proportion of solar energy into waste heat. Waste heat further reduces the efficiency of PV panels. Therefore, effective cooling methods are important in improving the electrical performance and reliability of PV systems. For different types of PV panel cooling methods, many research works have been conducted. Aiming at providing a relatively valuable reference for future work on PV panel cooling methods, this paper presents a comprehensive review of existing research on cooling methods for PV panels. Relevant issues of eight types of PV panel cooling methods are introduced, including working principles, typical research, advantages, disadvantages, existing problems, and future research directions.

Keywords: solar energy; PV cell; PV panel cooling; solar PV power; renewable energy utilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4305/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/16/4305/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:16:p:4305-:d:1723469

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().