As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

 Prof. Miqdam T. Chaichan (lecturer in the Energy and Renewable Energies Technology Center-University of Technology) presented a lecture on Tuesday, 25/2/2020 at 11:30 entitled “Impact of Nanofluid and Nano-PCM on the Electrical Performance of Hybrid (Electro/Thermal) Collector”. The lecturer stated that solar energy is one of the largest types of renewable energy at the current time where it has become a strategic choice in providing electric energy or using it as an alternative energy to oil resources or natural gas since it is environmentally friendly (clean energy-free from pollution).

The process of converting solar radiation energy into electrical energy is carried out by using photovoltaic cells by which the amount of electrical energy produced from these cells depends on many designing and operational factors. In this lecture, the effect of ambient temperature on the performance of photovoltaic cells was discussed where experimental results showed that the increase of temperature affected negatively on the efficiency of electrical energy production. Therefore, the lecturer discussed through his practical experience in this field using an effective method to reduce this effect. This method was represented by the use of a cooling fluid containing nanomaterials that were recycled according to a system designed for this purpose. The experimental results showed that the surface temperature of photovoltaic cell decreased obviously, and thus the amount of electrical energy produced increased significantly when compared to the conventional system (without using the cooling system).

The lecturer recommended at the end of his lecture that scientific research is being continued in this field by looking for the other materials as cooling fluids or making appropriate

improvements in the designing or operating standards of the cooling system in order to obtain the optimum performance.