Abstract:
This research was a study of improving the efficiency of solar panel with heat pipe cooling system. In the experiment, two solar panels were used. The first one was a normal solar panel used as a reference panel and the other was a solar panel equipped with heat pipes to reducing solar panel temperature. Heat pipes were made of copper pipe with inner thread acting as a wig. Distilled water was used as a working fluid in the heat pipe. There were 7 heat pipes fastened to the back of solar panel. The monitoring parameters in the study were solar intensity, power and temperature of the panels, heat pipe temperature and ambient air temperature. Data were collected every 15 minutes from 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. for 14 days. From analysis, the average temperature of the normal solar panel was 52.5 oC and the anual energy was 199.7 kWh. While the average temperature and the anual energy for the solar panel equipped with heat pipe were 51.1 oC and 222.3 kWh respectively. Therefore, the average temperature of solar panel equipped with heat pipe was decreased by 1.44 oC or 2.7% and the anual energy was increased by 22.6 kWh or 11.3 %.