The effect of some oils on the performance of solar panels

Abstract

The objective of this research is to develop a new technique for study the efficiency of the solar panels. This technique is done by coating the front surface of the solar panels. by a fine layer of oil in order to order to avoid the drop in the efficiency. Different types of oils are examined, natural oils; olive, coconut, and mint oils are examined. An experimental setup has been developed to examine the performance of the PV panels as a function of oil coatings. The experimental setup consists of an artificial sun, the PV panel under investigation, a cooling system and a measuring system to measure the performance of the panel, the maximum power for the panel and the efficiency was calculated (background-0.085, coconut oil 0.082, olive oil-0.087, mint oil-0.081) the obtained result show reduction in the efficiency of the panel when using coconut and mint oil and increase in the efficiency when using olive oil.