Volume 12 Issue 1 ( March 2025)

Photovoltaic modules' efficiency is often reduced by high operating temperatures and fixed positioning, leading to energy losses and suboptimal solar irradiation capture. The novelty of this study is to improve PV performance using tracking and passive cooling technique. This study integrates a dual-axis solar tracker and a passive cooling system using daytime radiative paint to address these challenges. The dual-axis solar tracker optimizes the module's orientation for maximum sunlight, and the cooling system, incorporating radiative paint and heat sinks, lowers operating temperatures. Three module setups were tested: a reference module, a module with heat sinks, and a module with heat sinks and radiative paint. Simulation results confirmed that the heat sinks and radiative paint effectively reduced the module's temperature. Experimental results showed significant performance improvements, with the highest increase at 12.66%, a 22.63% rise in peak power from 16.79 W to 20.59 W, an average temperature drop of 4.7°C, and an electrical efficiency of 11.77%.

Keywords: Solar tracking; photovoltaic; heat sinks; radiative paint coating