Performance of Photovoltaics Panel Without Cooling and with Water Cooling

Energy, Photovoltaic, Panel, Cooling, Power

Authors

  • Sudarsono Postgraduate School of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia
  • Muammar Iqbal Astaatmaja Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia
  • Yuli Purwanto Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia
  • Murni Yuniwati Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas AKPRIND Indonesia
August 11, 2026
August 12, 2026

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Solar energy is a promising resource for development in Indonesia. Indonesia's solar energy potential is estimated to generate over 200 GW of electricity, given the efficiency of existing solar module technology. However, utilization in solar power plants remains below 100 MW. With solar energy potential spread evenly across Indonesia, the largest potential is found in West Kalimantan Province (20 GW), followed by South Sumatra in second place (17 GW), and East Kalimantan in third place (13 GW). Therefore, accelerating the transition from coal or fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, particularly solar energy, is highly feasible in various regions across Indonesia. One method for cooling solar panels that has been implemented is a water-cooling system. This is what underlies the author to conduct research on the effect of water cooling on the performance of 3 X 100 WP solar panels. The results showed that the maximum efficiency of the solar cell was achieved on Saturday before cooling was carried out, with a figure of 28.34%. Conversely, the lowest efficiency occurred on Tuesday after the cooling process, which was 90%. The implemented air-based cooling system was able to reduce the temperature of the solar panel. The highest average temperature measured without temperature was 54.6°C on Saturday, while the lowest average temperature after temperature was recorded was 46.88°C on Tuesday. The maximum average voltage recorded was 54.22 Volts without cooling, while the lowest average voltage was 42.33 Volts after cooling was applied. For the highest average current recorded was 3.93 Amperes before cooling, while after cooling, the average was only 3.25 Amperes. The maximum average power without cooling reached 175.02 Watts, while the lowest average power after cooling was 146.43 Watts.