Vol. 2023 · No.2
Master's Thesis · OPEN ACCESS

Investigation of Solar-Driven PV Cooling and Brackish Water Membrane Desalination

H
Hussian A. Abdul Kareem iD

Student · Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq, Mechanical Power

A
Abdul Hadi N. Khalifa iD

Supervisor · Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

A
Ahmed Jasim Hamad iD

Co-Supervisor · Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

DOI

10.12345/mtu.repo.y2023.27

Published

12 July 2023

Pages

149

License

CC BY 4.0

Abstract

Solar panels are usually cooled passively without taking advantage of the heat stored in the cell. This is one of the active methods in which the cells are cooled by water while obtaining potable water from the coolant water. The current study consists of three steps to find the best geometry, coolant mass flow rate, and two membrane materials with different pore sizes of photovoltaic membrane distillation (PMD). The first step is a theoretical simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 software, followed by indoor experimental investigations to determine the optimum membrane pore size. Finally, a full-scale outdoor system was tested under different coolant water flow rates. The results showed that the optimum PMD geometry, combined with a membrane pore size of 0.45 μm, significantly enhanced freshwater productivity while reducing the PV cell temperature. The cooled photovoltaic panel achieved higher electrical efficiency than the uncooled panel, with a maximum efficiency of 15.3% compared with 9.93% for the uncooled system. The study demonstrates that integrating photovoltaic cooling with membrane distillation effectively improves electrical performance while simultaneously producing freshwater, offering a sustainable solution for energy generation and water desalination.

Keywords

Photovoltaic (PV) PV Cooling Membrane Distillation (MD) Brackish Water Desalinatio Solar Energy COMSOL Multiphysics Freshwater Production Thermal Performance

Subjects

Thermodynamics Fluid Mechanics Heat Transfer Thermal Energy

Contributors

Student

Hussian A. Abdul Kareem

Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq, Mechanical Power

iD 0009-0004-8484-1049

Supervisor

Abdul Hadi N. Khalifa

Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

iD 0000-0002-3024-8926

Co-Supervisor

Ahmed Jasim Hamad

Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq

iD 0000-0002-9885-2054

Associated Publications

Published or accepted papers derived from this work

  1. Investigation of Photovoltaic Membrane Desalination Utilizing Storage Heat in Solar Cells

    International Journal of Thermodynamics, 2024 · Published

    Authors: Abdul Hadi N.Khalifa iD (Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq)، Ahmed Jasim Hamad iD (Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq)

    DOI: 10.5541/ijot.1390518 View paper ↗

  2. Effect of pore membrane size on the cell temperature and water productivity in photovoltaic membrane distillation

    AIP Conference Proceedings, 2025 · Published

    Authors: Abdul Hadi N.Khalifa iD (Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq)، Ahmed Jasim Hamad iD (Engineering Technical College - Baghdad, Middle Technical University, Baghdad, Iraq)

    DOI: 10.1063/5.0297562 View paper ↗

Cite this work

Hussian A. Abdul Kareem, Abdul Hadi N. Khalifa, & Ahmed Jasim Hamad (2023). Investigation of Solar-Driven PV Cooling and Brackish Water Membrane Desalination [Master's thesis, Middle Technical University]. https://doi.org/10.12345/mtu.repo.y2023.27

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