IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v323y2025ics0360544225013131.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Experimental and numerical investigation of spray cooling based photovoltaic/thermal system: Achieving high performance, low cost, and lightweight design

Author

Listed:
  • Zhao, Yang
  • Wang, Feng
  • Xu, Zipeng
  • Cheng, Chao
  • Gao, Dan
  • Zhang, Heng
  • Wang, Yuting

Abstract

In an age where the world faces increasing energy demands and environmental concerns, efficient and sustainable renewable energy solutions are imperative. This study investigates spray cooling as a promising approach to address conventional PV/T limitations in thermal management, reliability, and cost. Experimental and numerical analyses under realistic conditions demonstrate that the spray-cooled PV/T can achieve over 9 % power improvement versus PV, while reducing PV surface temperatures from 35 °C to 23.1 °C even under winter operation. Critically, spray cooling eliminates localized high-stress regions observed in conventional water-cooled PV/T (maximum stress: 106 MPa; deformation: 26 mm), ensuring structural integrity during prolonged operation. Economically, the spray cooling PV/T reduces the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) compared to conventional PV/T under the different discount rates and O&M costs, with annual savings of 16.04 billion USD (1.5‱ of global GDP) through reduced installed capacity and optimized thermal energy recovery. Environmentally, it achieves reductions in water consumption (1.4‱ of global freshwater usage), land use (0.07‱ of non-arable area), and manufacturing-related greenhouse gas emissions (0.4‱ of global totals). By integrating lightweight design, efficient heat dissipation, and low-cost investigation, this work establishes spray cooling as a scalable pathway to enable widespread adoption of PV/T systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhao, Yang & Wang, Feng & Xu, Zipeng & Cheng, Chao & Gao, Dan & Zhang, Heng & Wang, Yuting, 2025. "Experimental and numerical investigation of spray cooling based photovoltaic/thermal system: Achieving high performance, low cost, and lightweight design," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:323:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225013131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135671
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225013131
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.135671?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jinyue Yan & Ying Yang & Pietro Elia Campana & Jijiang He, 2019. "City-level analysis of subsidy-free solar photovoltaic electricity price, profits and grid parity in China," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 709-717, August.
    2. Yuan, Weiqi & Ji, Jie & Modjinou, Mawufemo & Zhou, Fan & Li, Zhaomeng & Song, Zhiying & Huang, Shengjuan & Zhao, Xudong, 2018. "Numerical simulation and experimental validation of the solar photovoltaic/thermal system with phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 715-727.
    3. Kazemian, Arash & Khatibi, Meysam & Reza Maadi, Seyed & Ma, Tao, 2021. "Performance optimization of a nanofluid-based photovoltaic thermal system integrated with nano-enhanced phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    4. Aaswath P. Raman & Marc Abou Anoma & Linxiao Zhu & Eden Rephaeli & Shanhui Fan, 2014. "Passive radiative cooling below ambient air temperature under direct sunlight," Nature, Nature, vol. 515(7528), pages 540-544, November.
    5. Yu, Yinyun & Li, Congdong & Fu, Yelin & Yang, Weiming, 2023. "A group decision-making method to measure national energy architecture performance: A case study of the International energy Agency," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(PA).
    6. Ma, Tao & Li, Meng & Kazemian, Arash, 2020. "Photovoltaic thermal module and solar thermal collector connected in series to produce electricity and high-grade heat simultaneously," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    7. Mariam, Ezrah & Ramasubramanian, Brindha & Sumedha Reddy, Vundrala & Dalapati, Goutam Kumar & Ghosh, Siddhartha & PA, Thanseeha Sherin & Chakrabortty, Sabyasachi & Motapothula, Mallikarjuna Rao & Kuma, 2024. "Emerging trends in cooling technologies for photovoltaic systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    8. Li, Jieyang & Lin, Meng, 2021. "Unified design guidelines for high flux solar simulator with controllable flux vector," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    9. Tyagi, V.V. & Kaushik, S.C. & Tyagi, S.K., 2012. "Advancement in solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) hybrid collector technology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 1383-1398.
    10. Jia, Yuting & Alva, Guruprasad & Fang, Guiyin, 2019. "Development and applications of photovoltaic–thermal systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 249-265.
    11. Xueke Wu & Jinlei Li & Fei Xie & Xun-En Wu & Siming Zhao & Qinyuan Jiang & Shiliang Zhang & Baoshun Wang & Yunrui Li & Di Gao & Run Li & Fei Wang & Ya Huang & Yanlong Zhao & Yingying Zhang & Wei Li & , 2024. "A dual-selective thermal emitter with enhanced subambient radiative cooling performance," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    12. Wang, Zhenlong & Wang, Yifan & Zhang, Xinrui & Yang, Dong & Ma, Duanyu & Ramakrishna, Seeram & Yuan, Weizheng & Ye, Tao, 2024. "Flexible photovoltaic micro-power system enabled with a customized MPPT," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 367(C).
    13. Herrando, María & Ramos, Alba & Zabalza, Ignacio & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "A comprehensive assessment of alternative absorber-exchanger designs for hybrid PVT-water collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 1583-1602.
    14. Gunnar Luderer & Silvia Madeddu & Leon Merfort & Falko Ueckerdt & Michaja Pehl & Robert Pietzcker & Marianna Rottoli & Felix Schreyer & Nico Bauer & Lavinia Baumstark & Christoph Bertram & Alois Dirna, 2022. "Author Correction: Impact of declining renewable energy costs on electrification in low-emission scenarios," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(4), pages 380-381, April.
    15. Yang, Li-Hao & Liang, Jyun-De & Hsu, Chien-Yeh & Yang, Tai-Her & Chen, Sih-Li, 2019. "Enhanced efficiency of photovoltaic panels by integrating a spray cooling system with shallow geothermal energy heat exchanger," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 970-981.
    16. Pang, Wei & Cui, Yanan & Zhang, Qian & Wilson, Gregory.J. & Yan, Hui, 2020. "A comparative analysis on performances of flat plate photovoltaic/thermal collectors in view of operating media, structural designs, and climate conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    17. Liang, Huaxu & Wang, Fuqiang & Yang, Luwei & Cheng, Ziming & Shuai, Yong & Tan, Heping, 2021. "Progress in full spectrum solar energy utilization by spectral beam splitting hybrid PV/T system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    18. Gunnar Luderer & Silvia Madeddu & Leon Merfort & Falko Ueckerdt & Michaja Pehl & Robert Pietzcker & Marianna Rottoli & Felix Schreyer & Nico Bauer & Lavinia Baumstark & Christoph Bertram & Alois Dirna, 2022. "Impact of declining renewable energy costs on electrification in low-emission scenarios," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 32-42, January.
    19. Chow, T.T., 2010. "A review on photovoltaic/thermal hybrid solar technology," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 365-379, February.
    20. Zheng, Xinyao & Zhou, Yuekuan, 2023. "A three-dimensional unsteady numerical model on a novel aerogel-based PV/T-PCM system with dynamic heat-transfer mechanism and solar energy harvesting analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).
    21. Ju, Xing & Pan, Xinyu & Zhang, Zheyang & Xu, Chao & Wei, Gaosheng, 2019. "Thermal and electrical performance of the dense-array concentrating photovoltaic (DA-CPV) system under non-uniform illumination," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 904-915.
    22. Hadipour, Amirhosein & Rajabi Zargarabadi, Mehran & Rashidi, Saman, 2021. "An efficient pulsed- spray water cooling system for photovoltaic panels: Experimental study and cost analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 867-875.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhao, Yang & Wang, Ranxu & Gao, Dan & Chen, Haiping & Zhang, Heng, 2024. "Numerical investigation and optimization of a multi-stage Tesla-valve channel based photovoltaic/thermal module," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    2. B, Prabhu & A, Valan Arasu & P, Gurusamy & A, Amala Mithin Minther Singh & T, Arunkumar, 2024. "Solar photovoltaic cooling using Paraffin phase change material: Comprehensive assessment," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    3. Pang, Wei & Cui, Yanan & Zhang, Qian & Wilson, Gregory.J. & Yan, Hui, 2020. "A comparative analysis on performances of flat plate photovoltaic/thermal collectors in view of operating media, structural designs, and climate conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Kazemian, Arash & Khatibi, Meysam & Reza Maadi, Seyed & Ma, Tao, 2021. "Performance optimization of a nanofluid-based photovoltaic thermal system integrated with nano-enhanced phase change material," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    5. Mukhamad Faeshol Umam & Md. Hasanuzzaman & Nasrudin Abd Rahim, 2022. "Global Advancement of Nanofluid-Based Sheet and Tube Collectors for a Photovoltaic Thermal System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-37, August.
    6. Kazemian, Arash & Khatibi, Meysam & Entezari, Soroush & Ma, Tao & Yang, Hongxing, 2023. "Efficient energy generation and thermal storage in a photovoltaic thermal system partially covered by solar cells and integrated with organic phase change materials," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    7. Hong, Wenpeng & Li, Boyu & Li, Haoran & Niu, Xiaojuan & Li, Yan & Lan, Jingrui, 2022. "Recent progress in thermal energy recovery from the decoupled photovoltaic/thermal system equipped with spectral splitters," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    8. Herrando, María & Fantoni, Guillermo & Cubero, Ana & Simón-Allué, Raquel & Guedea, Isabel & Fueyo, Norberto, 2023. "Numerical analysis of the fluid flow and heat transfer of a hybrid PV-thermal collector and performance assessment," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 122-132.
    9. Chan, Siyan & Chen, Ken & Hu, Kongfu & Shi, Lingfeng & Pei, Yu & Zhao, Bin & Pei, Gang, 2025. "Comparative analysis of switchable natural cooling methods for efficient thermal management in photovoltaic/thermal collectors," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 385(C).
    10. Pan, Xinyu & Ju, Xing & Yuan, Mengdi & Xu, Chao & Du, Xiaoze, 2023. "Energy tracing of solar cells for spectral-beam-splitting photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 345(C).
    11. Yu, Qinghua & Chen, Xi & Yang, Hongxing, 2021. "Research progress on utilization of phase change materials in photovoltaic/thermal systems: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. Yu, Y. & Yang, H. & Peng, J. & Long, E., 2019. "Performance comparisons of two flat-plate photovoltaic thermal collectors with different channel configurations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 300-308.
    13. Pan, Hong-Yu & Chen, Xue & Xia, Xin-Lin, 2022. "A review on the evolvement of optical-frequency filtering in photonic devices in 2016–2021," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    14. Hu, Mingke & Zhao, Bin & Ao, Xianze & Ren, Xiao & Cao, Jingyu & Wang, Qiliang & Su, Yuehong & Pei, Gang, 2020. "Performance assessment of a trifunctional system integrating solar PV, solar thermal, and radiative sky cooling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    15. Hamed, Mohammed H. & Hassan, Hamdy & Ookawara, Shinichi & Nada, Sameh A., 2024. "Performance comparative study on passively cooled concentrated photovoltaic (PV) using adsorption/desorption and heat sink cooling methods: Experimental investigations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    16. Maadi, Seyed Reza & Navegi, Ali & Solomin, Evgeny & Ahn, Ho Seon & Wongwises, Somchai & Mahian, Omid, 2021. "Performance improvement of a photovoltaic-thermal system using a wavy-strip insert with and without nanofluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    17. Hasret Sahin & A. A. Solomon & Arman Aghahosseini & Christian Breyer, 2024. "Systemwide energy return on investment in a sustainable transition towards net zero power systems," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    18. Marco Noro & Simone Mancin & Roger Riehl, 2021. "Energy and Economic Sustainability of a Trigeneration Solar System Using Radiative Cooling in Mediterranean Climate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-18, October.
    19. Kazemian, Arash & Khatibi, Meysam & Ma, Tao & Peng, Jinqing & Hongxing, Yang, 2023. "A thermal performance-enhancing strategy of photovoltaic thermal systems by applying surface area partially covered by solar cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 329(C).
    20. Shao, Nina & Ma, Liangdong & Zhang, Jili, 2020. "Experimental investigation on the performance of direct-expansion roof-PV/T heat pump system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:323:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225013131. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.