Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Cleaner Production

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jclepro

Performance enhancement of a photovoltaic panel with reflectors and

cooling coupled to a solar still with air injection
A.E. Kabeel*, Mohamed Abdelgaied
Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Tanta University, Egypt

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study aims to overcome the problems of freshwater and electricity in remote areas. To
Received 7 February 2019 achieve this, a hybrid system of photovoltaic (PV) panel with reflectors and cooling coupled developed
Received in revised form solar still with air injection was experimentally investigated. This study aims to improve the PV panel
14 March 2019
performance using reflectors with cooling. The cooling was used to reduce the PV surface temperature.
Accepted 18 March 2019
On the other hand, reflectors are used to reduce reflection loss and increase the rate of solar radiation
Available online 20 March 2019
absorbed by PV panels. To obtain the best cooling technique of the PV panel with reflectors, the five
operating cases was studied, namely case-A (conventional PV panel), case-B (PV with reflectors), case-C
Keywords:
PV panel
(PV with reflectors and air cooling technique), case-D (PV with reflectors and water cooling technique),
Reflectors and case-E (PV with reflectors, water and air cooling techniques). The cooling air out from the PV module
Cooling for the two cases C and E were injected inside the developed solar still to increase the evaporation rate
Developed solar still with air injection within the solar still, thereby improving the freshwater productivity. The results show that the
Performance improvement improvement in the electrical power of the PV panel was recorded 16.81, 21.62, 35.13, and 39.69% for
cases B, C, D, and E, respectively compared to case-A. Also, using the air injection system improved the
freshwater production by 40.98% and 21.96% for cases C and E, respectively compared to the case without
air injection system. The average overall efficiency of the hybrid system was recorded 21.2, 22.1, 30.55,
22.95, and 27.15% for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Moreover, the economic analysis presented that
the estimated cost of kWh and fresh water production vary between 0.076 and 0.083 $/kWh and 0.01
e0.014 $/L, respectively.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Moreover, environmental pollution resulting from the use of fossil

As a result of the population explosion and the rapid develop-
ment in industry, the demand of freshwater and electricity has
gradually increased over the years to complement daily human
activities (UNICEF, 2014). To meet these daily requirements, global
energy demand has increased (Tripanagnostopoulos et al., 2002). In
order to overcome the problem of increasing demand for energy,
large quantities of fossil fuels are burned, resulting in the emission
of large amounts of polluting gases to the environment. Also, to
overcome the problem of lack of freshwater, seawater is desalinated
by fossil fuels, which produces polluting gases for the environment.
This leads to the use of renewable energy as an alternative source to
supply desalination units with energy (Subramani et al., 2011).
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: kabeel6@hotmail.com, kabeel6@f-eng.tanta.edu.eg
(A.E. Kabeel), mohamed_13480@yahoo.com (M. Abdelgaied).
fuels in traditional power generation has made renewable energy
an important alternative in generating electricity (Zhao and Chen,
2018). The use of renewable energy sources such as solar,
geothermal, wind, hydropower, bioenergy and ocean energy con-
tributes to reducing the environmental impact of fossil fuels
(Milano et al., 2016).
Solar photovoltaic systems (PV) are one of the sources of
renewable energy as they convert solar radiation into electrical
energy and have great potential at present to meet the growing
energy needs of cities. Solar PV systems are the most widely pro-
moted systems (Ng and Mithraratne, 2014). The first to discover
photovoltaic technology was physicist Edmund Beckerle in 1839
where he recommended that semiconductor devices known as
photovoltaic cells could be used to convert sunlight directly into
electricity. Photons under the threshold wavelength have sufficient
energy to break the electron-hole in the crystals of semiconductor,
who in turn can push the current within the circle. Only about

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.199
0959-6526/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49
10e20% of solar energy is converted into electrical power, while the
remaining part from solar energy is reflected back or converted into
the heat (Würfel and Würfel, 2009). The solar PV systems are
benefiting from the destinations and roofs of existing buildings in
the production of electric power (Saretta et al., 2019). Furthermore,
they are characterized by the fact that they do not cause depletion
of the materials and cause no environmental damage at the same
time as energy is generated, as well as lower maintenance costs
(Jurasz and Campana, 2019).
Use of low-cost concentrators/reflectors increases the electrical
power generated by the PV modules. The PV modules with a low-
concentrations decrease the electricity cost by 40%, compared to
a conventional PV modules without concentration (Zanesco and
Lorenzo, 2002; Mallick and Eames, 2007). In recent years, some
effort has been made to implement PV modules with cylindrical
parabolic concentrator to improve the power generation and then
reducing the cost of PV modules production (Mallick et al., 2004;
Burhan et al., 2016; Lamba and Kaushik, 2016; Renno and Petito,
2016).
A large part of the solar energy that falls on PV modules is
converted into thermal energy, and this thermal energy causes
further deterioration in the performance of PV modules because of
their high temperature (Kahoul et al., 2014; Ndiaye et al., 2014). The
increase in the temperature of the PV modules, cause a significant
decrease in the voltage and a small increase in the current, resulting
in a decrease in total energy produced from PV modules
(Abdolzadeh and Ameri, 2009). The degradation of efficiency is
strongly related to the photovoltaic cell type. The reduction in the
PV module efficiency was ranges 0.35e0.8% for each 1
C increases
in polycrystalline PV module (Mattei et al., 2006; Krauter et al.,
1999).
Two cooling techniques are used to improve the performance of
PV modules, namely passive and active cooling techniques (Jamali
et al., 2018). For the active cooling of PV modules needs a power
source to improve the rate of heat transfer between PV modules
and cooling medium. During the active cooling techniques, a fan is
used for air-based cooling and a pump is used for liquid-based
cooling (Zilli et al., 2018). Zilli et al. (2018) investigated that the
improvement in power and electrical efficiency of PV modules was
recorded 12.26, and 12.17%, respectively for use active cooling
techniques as compared to the case without cooling techniques.
Abdolzadeh and Ameri (2009) conducted the influence of water
spray cooling technique on the front side of PV module; they found
the efficiency of PV module improved for use the active water
cooling technique. Ni
zeti
c et al. (2016) experimentally conducted
the impact of active water cooling technique on the behavior of PV
module. They conducted that the output power and efficiency of PV
modules improved by 16.3, and 14.1%, respectively for use active
water cooling technique. kumar et al. (2018) conducted experi-
mentally the behavior of hybrid photovoltaic/thermal active solar
still with active water cooling techniques. They found that the
active cooling technique improve the output power and efficiency
of PV modules by 30, and 37.5%, respectively. Also, use the fins for
the passive cooling technique approximately improved the output
power by 2% (Grubi
si

c-Cabo et al., 2018).
Solar stills represent the simplest method used to produce
distillate water compared to other desalination techniques, but due
to the little distillate water production of solar stills (Kaushal and
Varun, 2010). A number of previous studies have been conducted,
all of which aim at increasing the distillate water production of solar
stills. A brief presentation will be made of some of the studies con-
ducted to improve a performance of solar stills. El-Sebaii et al. (2000)
investigated the impact of baffle suspended absorber on the
behavior of solar still. They found that use the baffle suspended
absorber enhance the production by 20%. Badran (2007) concluded
41
that using a flat plate collector integrated with solar still improve the
production by 36%. Kabeel and Abdelgaied (2017a) conducted the
influence of multi-group of coaxial pipe on still behavior. They found
that the rise in the productivity varies between 97.8 and 52.7% for
increasing a depth of annular space from 5 to 14.5 mm between
coaxial pipes. Velmurugan et al. (2008) examined the impact of
using fins on the behavior of single basin still. The outcome pre-
sented that use the fins enhance the distillate production by 45%.
Kabeel et al. (2018) investigated the influences of graphite on the
behavior of solar still. The results presented that use graphite
enhance production by 80.05%. Singh et al. (2013) studied the single
basin still behavior coupled with evacuated tube collectors. They
found that the yield improved by 35.7% for use an evacuated tube
collector. Kabeel and Abdelgaied (2017b) examined the impact of an
oil loop inserted with cylindrical parabolic concentrator on the ac-
tion of single basin still contains PCM under basin. They found that
use this techniques improve the yield by 140.4%. Rai and Tiwari,
(1983) they found that use the flat collector coupled with single
basin still enhanced the yield by 48.15%. Kabeel et al. (2017) exam-
ined the impact corrugated absorber on the behavior of the pyramid
still with PCM under basin. Reddy et al. (2012) experimentally
examined a performance of a multi-stage still integrated with an
evacuated collector. They conducted that the optimum number of
stage and water flow rate are 4 and 55 kg/m2day, respectively.
Kabeel et al. (2016) studied the impact of hot air injected on a
behavior of still contains PCM under a basin. The outcome shows
that the production of modified still improved by 109%. Kabeel et al.
(2019) examined the impact of graphite concentration of a behavior
of still contains a mixture of paraffin wax/graphite nanoparticles
under the basin. They recorded that the improvement in the yield
ranges between 62.62 and 94.52% for increase the graphite nano-
particles concentrations from 0.0 to 20%. Marou
sek et al. (2019)
studied the effect of the treatment of surface water using ferric hy-
droxide on the level of mobile phosphorus and phosphorus
extractable and also on the quality of extractable phosphorus.
For most remote areas suffer from the problem of freshwater
and electric energy, this work is aimed at solving the problems of
remote areas in terms of production of freshwater and electric
power. To investigate this idea, the hybrid system of PV module
with reflectors and cooling coupled developed solar still with air
injection system was designed, built and operated under Egyptian
conditions. From reviewing previous studies of PV modules, some
studies have used reflectors to improve a behavior of PV modules,
while others have used cooling to improve a behavior of PV mod-
ules. The present experimental work aims to increase the rate of
improvement in the performance of the PV modules by using the
reflectors and cooling together. In this study to obtain the best
cooling technique of the PV panel with reflectors, the five operating
cases was studied, namely case-A (conventional PV panel), case-B
(PV with reflectors), case-C (PV with reflectors and air cooling
technique), case-D (PV with reflectors and water cooling tech-
nique), and case-E (PV with reflectors, water and air cooling tech-
niques). Also, the cooling air out from the PV module for the two
cases C and E were injected inside the developed solar still to in-
crease the evaporation rate within the solar still, thereby improving
the freshwater productivity. The gain in electrical power out from
the PV module, electrical efficiency, accumulated freshwater pro-
duction, and the overall efficiency of the proposed system were
determined in order to obtain the better operating system can be
used for proposed system. Also, the economic analysis of the pro-
posed hybrid system was studied.
2. Experimental setup
In order to obtain the influence of reflectors and cooling on a
42 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49
performance of the PV module as well as the impact of air injection
on the developed solar still productivity. An experimental approach
of a hybrid system of PV module with reflectors and cooling
coupled with developed solar still with air injection was designed
and constructed. The proposed system aims to produce electrical
power and freshwater. Experiments were done from June to August
2018 in Tanta, Egypt. Fig. 1 presented the photographic view of the
proposed system.
In the present study, a PV module (polycrystalline silicon type
with a maximum power of 130 W) and has dimensions
1482 mm  676 mm  35 mm was used. The PV module was fixed
in south orientation with a specific angle of 30.47
(Latitude angle,
Tanta University). Specifications of the PV module used in the
current study are noted in Table 1. To improve the electrical power
production from the PV module, the reflectors with cooling tech-
niques were used to improve a performance of the PV module. To
experimentally investigate this idea, the PV module was fixed in-
side a rectangular wooden box with 30 mm thickness has an inside
dimension of 1600 mm  676 mm  150 mm height. The thickness
of air gap in a front side of PV module is 65 mm and the thickness of
air gap in a back side of PV module is 50 mm. The wooden box
covered by a clear float glass cover 3 mm thickness. The cooling
water distribution system was fixed upper edge in a front side of a
PV module. The upper and lower ends of the wooden box are
designed in the form of a diffuser that ends with a cylindrical pipe
of 90 mm diameter to controls the entry and exit of forced cooling
air as shown in Fig. 2. Two flat reflectors (ultra clear float glass silver
coated 3 mm thickness, light reflectivity 92.5%e93.8%) used in this
study have a same dimensional of 1482 mm  300 mm, the two flat
reflectors was put above the PV module (East and West Orienta-
tions) with a fixed tilt angle of 25
with the north. DC 5W water
pump was used in the present study to pumping the cooling water
from the cooling water reservoir to the PV module. Also, DC 10W air
blower was used to flow the cooling air at a rate 61 m3/h to the PV
module.
The developed solar still with air injection consists was
designed, built and tested to production the distillate water. A basin
of developed still contains air injection system. The basin made
from a galvanized steel sheet 1.5 mm thick, the basin has a rect-
angular shape with a dimensional of 600 mm  960 mm. The depth
of basin walls for top-side and down-side is 470 mm and 120 mm,
Fig. 1. A photographic view of a hybrid system of PV panel with reflectors and cooling
coupled to a solar still with air injection.
Table 1
PV module components.
Component description Technical Specification
PV-polycrystalline module PMPP ¼ 130 W
VOC ¼ 21.81 V
ISC ¼ 7.8 A
VMPP ¼ 18 V
IMPP ¼ 7.27 A
DC Water pump Power: 5 W
Water flow rate: 12 L/min
DC Air blower Power: 10 W
Air flow rate: 61 m3/h
respectively. The inside facade of the basin is coated with black
paint to raise the absorption of solar rays. The four sidewalls and
bottom base of the basin were isolated by a glass wool blanket
50 mm thickness (thermal conductivity coefficient 0.041 W/m oC)
and placed after that inside a wooden box 30 mm thick to diminish
the thermal energy losses to a surrounding. The developed solar
still with air injection covered by a clear float glass 3 mm thick and
inclined in north orientation by angle 30.47
(Latitude angle) on
horizontal. The condensed water vapor on the inner face of glass
was collected in a collecting trough and after that flowing to the
freshwater tank. The injection system inside the basin consists of
three main copper pipes by 900 mm length and 12.5 mm diameter.
Each main copper pipe contains 30 copper tubes with 8 mm length
and 3.18 mm outer diameter fixed in a line perpendicular to the
main pipe axis as shown in Fig. 3. The free end of small tubes
(3.18 mm outer diameter) remains immersed in basin water and
this represents the air injection system in basin water.
3. System operation
A hybrid system of PV module with reflectors and cooling
coupled with a modified solar still with air injection was tested in
Tanta University within the period from June to August 2018 from
8:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. The proposed hybrid systems in this study
aim to produce the electrical power and freshwater. To investigate
the influence of reflectors and cooling on a performance of the PV
module as well as the impact of air injection on the developed solar
still production, the hybrid proposed system was operated under
five different operating cases:
3.1. First case (Case-A)
In the first case, both the cooling water pump and the cooling air
blower of the PV module are turned off. Also, the reflectors are
removed and then the PV module is operated without cooling
techniques and without reflectors. Also, there is no air injection
inside the developed solar still.
3.2. Second case (Case-B)
In the second case, both the cooling water pump and the cooling
air blower of the PV module are turned off. Also, the PV module
operated with reflectors only. Also, there is no air injection inside
the developed solar still.
3.3. Third case (Case-C)
In the third case, the cooling water pump is turned off and the
air blower is switched-on for the PV module. In this case, the PV
module works using reflectors and forced air cooling technique.
The cooling air out from the PV module is pushed into the air
 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49
Fig. 2. A photographic view of a PV module using reflectors and cooling system.
Fig. 3. A schematic diagram and photographic view of a solar still with air injection.
injection system supported inside the developed solar still, and
then the developed solar still working with forced air injection.
3.4. Fourth case (Case-D)
In the fourth case, the air blower is turned off and the cooling
water pump is switched-on for the PV module. In this case, the PV
module works using reflectors and cooling water technique. Also,
there is no air injection inside the developed solar still, and then the
developed solar still working without air injection.
3.5. Fifth case (Case-E)
In the fifth case, both cooling water pump and the air blower are
switched-on for the PV module. In this case, the PV module works
by using reflectors and water cooling and forced air cooling tech-
niques together. The cooling air out from the PV module is pushed
into the air injection systems inside the developed solar still, and
then the developed solar still working with forced air injection.
The comparison between the five operating cases of the pro-
posed system is summarized in Table 2.
4. Uncertainty analysis
During the five operating cases mentioned above, the values of
solar intensity, ambient temperature, (surface temperature,
43
entering and exit temperatures of cooling water, entering and exit
temperatures of cooling air, electric current and voltage) for PV
module, and (basin water temperature, inlet air injection temper-
ature, glass cover temperature, distillate water temperature, and
freshwater production) for developed solar still with air injection
system was record every hour. The depth of salt water in the
developed solar still is kept constant during the five cases at 2 cm.
The electrical power out from the PV module (I-V curve) is
measured using the PV analyzer I-V curve tracers by Solmetric. The
temperatures at all different points in both developed solar still and
PV module is measured by using K-type thermocouples. Also, the
solar radiation, freshwater production, and wind rate are measured
using solarimeter, calibrated container, and vane anemometer,
respectively. The accuracies and uncertainty of measuring devices
used in this study are presented in Table 3. The uncertainties for all
measured data are calculated based on a formula presented by
(Kline and McClintock, 1953). Consequently, errors in electrical
power, freshwater production, PV module efficiency, developed
solar still efficiency, and overall efficiency are ± 1.46%, 0.42%, 0.95%,
0.78%, and 0.816%, respectively.
5. System performance
The electrical efficiency of the PV module (hel) calculated as
followed in Eq. (1), the hourly efficiency (hdistillat) of the developed
solar still is estimated as shown in Eq. (2), and the overall efficiency
(hoveral) of PV module integrated with a developed solar still are
calculated as followed in Eq. (3):
PMPP
hel ¼ (1)
Ac  G


m_ 3600  hfg
=
hdistillate ¼ (2)
Abasin  G


 
PMPP þ m_ 3600  hfg
=
hoverall ¼ (3)
ðAc þ Abasin Þ  G
Where; PMMP is the power at a maximum power point (W); AC is
the PV module surface area (m2); G is solar radiation intensity (W/
m2); m _ is the hourly distillate production (kg/h); Abasin is the
surface area of basin still of (m2); hfg is a latent heat (J/kg) this
44 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49

Table 2
Comparison between the five operating cases of the proposed system.

Operating PV module Developed solar still

case

Case-A Working without reflectors and cooling Working without air injection
Case-B Working with reflectors only Working without air injection
Case-C Working with reflectors and air cooling technique Working with air injection (forced cooling air out from the PV module were injected inside the
solar still)
Case-D Working with reflectors and water cooling technique Working without air injection
Case-E Working with reflectors, water and air cooling techniques Working with air injection (forced cooling air out from the PV module were injected inside the
together solar still)

Table 3
Accuracies and uncertainty of measuring devices.

Measuring devices Ranges Accuracy Uncertainty, %

Solmetric (PVA600)
Voltage (0e600) V DC ±1% ± 0.25 V 1.34
Current (0e20) A DC ±2% ± 40 mA 0.54
Thermocouples (0e100) oC ±0.1
C 0.205
Solarimeter (0e5000) W/m2 ±1 W/m2 0.49
Calibrated container (0e2000) ml ±5 ml 0.25
Vane anemometer (0.4e30) m/s ±0.1 m/s 2.34

calculated by giving a basin water temperature (Tbw) as given in Eq.

(4) (Kabeel and Abdelgaied, 2017b).
h
hfg ¼ 103 2501:9  2:40706Tbw þ 1:192217  103  T2bw
i
 1:5863  105 T3bw
(4) Fig. 4. Continuous variation of solar intensity within the period 8:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m.

6. Results and discussion

The continuous variation of solar radiation and ambient air

temperature within the period 8:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. for the
operation days of the five cases (case A, B, C, D, and E) are displayed
in Figs. 4 and 5. As presented in the figure the slopes of a solar
intensity and temperature of ambient air are the same during the
five operation days. The solar radiation intensity rises to the highest
amount at 12:00 p.m. and decreases next that till zero value at
sunset.
Fig. 6 shows the PV module surface temperature on the front-
side for the five operation cases. As shown in Fig. 6, the
maximum PV module temperature reached 71.5
C, 78.5
C, 65.2
C,
38.1
C, and 32.9
C as cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The re-
sults showed that within the period 8:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m., for the
conventional PV module (case-A) the PV module temperature
ranges from 44.4 to 71.5
C, but for using PV module with reflectors
(case-B) as a result of increasing the intensity of solar radiation
falling on PV module the PV module temperature was increased
and ranges from 47.1 to 78.5
C. The use of the forced air cooling
technique with reflectors (case-C) reduces the PV module tem- Fig. 5. Continuous variation of ambient temperature within the period 8:00 a.m. till
6:00 p.m.
perature compared to case-B, where the PV module temperature
for case-C ranges from 42.5 to 65.2
C. But for using the water
cooling technique with reflectors (case-D), the cooling rate of the 8:00 a.m. till 6:00 p.m. are shown in Fig. 7. The results show that the
PV module was increased as compared to the case-C, where the PV maximum power out from the PV module within the period 8:00
module temperature ranges from 32.9 to 38.1
C for case-D. a.m. till 6:00 p.m. are within ranges of 26.38e104.56 W,
Moreover, for using both water and forced air cooling techniques 33.96e123.26 W, 34.16e129.28 W, 35e145.96 W, and
with reflectors (case-E) the cooling rate becomes more effective as 36.45e150.69 W for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The results
compared to case-D, for case E the PV module temperature ranges showed that; (i) use PV module with reflectors (case-B) improved
from 28.9 to 33.3
C. These lower PV module temperatures ensured the maximum power output by 16.81% as compared to the con-
the increase of the maximum power output from the PV module. ventional PV module without reflectors (case-A), this because that
The effects of using reflectors with different cooling techniques the use of reflectors increasing the amount of solar intensity
on the maximum power out from the PV module within the period
 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49
Fig. 6. Variations of the PV module temperature within the period 8:00 a.m. till 6:00
p.m.
absorbed by the PV module; (ii) use the reflectors with forced air
cooling technique (case-C) improved the maximum power output
by 21.62% as compared to the conventional PV module (case-A), this
enhancement due to the rise in the absorbed solar intensity due to
use the reflectors as well as the reduction in the PV module tem-
perature due to using the forced air cooling technique; (iii) use the
reflectors with water cooling technique (case-D) improved the
maximum power output by 35.13% as compared to the conven-
tional PV module (case-A). An enhancement in a maximum power
output for case-D is higher than that of case-C, this because that the
PV module temperature for case-D is less than that of case-C due to
the increase in convection heat transfer coefficient of the water as
compared to the air; (iv) use the reflectors with water and forced air
cooling techniques together (case-E) improved the maximum po-
wer output by 39.69% as compared to the conventional PV module
(case-A). An enhancement in a maximum power for case-E is
higher than that of case-D, this because that a PV module tem-
perature for case-E is less than that of case-D.
Fig. 8 shows the effects of using reflectors with different cooling
techniques on the electrical efficiency within the period 8:00 a.m.
to 6:00 p.m. The electrical efficiency of the PV module was
Fig. 7. Variations of maximum power of the PV module within the period 8:00 a.m. till
6:00 p.m.
45
improved for using reflectors with different cooling techniques. The
average electrical efficiency within the period 8:00 a.m. till 6:00
p.m. was recorded 10.38%, 12.29%, 12.73%, 14%, and 14.46% for cases
A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The relative enhancement in electrical
efficiency of PV module within cases B, C, D, and E reached to
18.31%, 22.59%, 35.07%, and 39.26% as compared to case-A. This due
to the enhancement in the electrical power output from PV module
for using the reflectors with the cooling techniques.
Table 4 shows a comparison between the percentage improve-
ment in the power generation and electrical efficiency of the PV
module for the present work with the previous work. These results
indicated that the present modifications are more effective as
compared to the previous work.
The gain in maximum power, power consumption in cooling
technique, and the gain in output power after overcoming the
cooling technique are shown in Fig. 9. The results showed that the
raise in the maximum power out from PV module was recorded
139.88 Wh/day, 179.87 Wh/day, 292.24 Wh/day, and 330.3 Wh/day
for cases B, C, D, and E compared to case A respectively. The power
consumption in cooling techniques equal to zero, 100 Wh/day,
50 Wh/day, and 150 Wh/day for cases B, C, D, and E, respectively.
Also, the gain in output power after overcomes the cooling tech-
niques was recorded 139.88 Wh/day, 79.87 Wh/day, 242.24 Wh/
day, and 180.2 Wh/day for case B, C, D, and E compared to case A,
respectively. This result indicated that the optimal operating case is
the case-D (PV module using reflectors with water cooling
technique).
The continuous variations of a basin temperature for developed
still with air injection system are displayed in Fig. 10. The air is
injected inside the developed solar still through the air injection
system in both cases C and E. In the case-C, the PV module is cooled
by only forced air cooling technique, the hot air at the outlet of the
PV module is injected inside the developed still. but, in the case-E
the PV module is cooled by both cooling water and forced air
cooling techniques, in this case, the temperatures of the air injected
inside the developed still is less than that of case-C, this because of
the effect of cooling water in case-E on the temperature of air exit
from the PV module. As presented in Fig. 10 the maximum basin
temperature was recorded 78.6, 78, 82.5, 78.4, and 77.8
C for case
A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. The results showed that a maximum
basin temperature occurs for case-C because the effect of hot air
injection inside the developed still.
Fig. 11 display that an hourly distillate production improved for
Fig. 8. Variations of electrical efficiency of the PV module within the period 8:00 a.m.
till 6:00 p.m.
46 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49

Table 4
Comparison between the present results of PV module with other previous results.

Percentage improvement Techniques References

Electrical efficiency Power generation
14.1% 16.3% PV module with cooling water technique Ni
zeti
c et al. (2016)
12.17% 12.26% PV module with cooling water technique Zilli et al. (2018)
18.31% 16.81% PV module with reflectors (case-B) Present work
22.59% 21.62% PV module with reflectors and air cooling technique (case-C)
35.07% 35.13% PV module with reflectors and water cooling technique (case-D)
39.26% 39.69% PV module with reflectors and water and air cooling techniques (case-E)

Fig. 9. Effect of reflectors and cooling on the electrical power production of the PV
module.
Fig. 11. Hourly distillate production for all different operating cases.

reached to 4280, 4262, 6034, 4281, and 5220 ml/m2day for cases A,
B, C, D, and E, respectively. The experimental outcomes show, for
case-E (the PV module using reflectors with water and forced air
cooling techniques together) due to the effect of air injected inside
the developed still, the accumulated production improved by
21.96% as compared to case-A. Also, for case-C (the PV module using
reflectors with forced air cooling technique) due to the high tem-
perature of the air exit from PV module and injected inside the
developed still the accumulated production improved by 40.98% as
compared to case-A.
The hourly efficiency of developed solar still with the air in-
jection system is presented in Fig. 13. As shown, the hourly

Fig. 10. Hourly variation of basin water temperature for all different operating cases.

using air injection system inside the basin water of developed still,
this because increases the interface area of evaporation inside the
developed still. As shown in Fig. 11 the hourly production was
recorded 790, 780, 1085, 785, and 995 ml/m2h for cases A, B, C, D,
and E, respectively. These outcomes indicated that the maximum
hourly distillate production occurs in cases C and E, due to the effect
of air injection inside the developed solar still. Also, the maximum
value of hourly distillate production occurs in the case-C, this
because the high temperature of air injected as compared to case-E.
Fig. 12 shows that the accumulated distillate production in-
creases with increasing a temperature of air injected inside the
developed still. As shown the accumulated distillate production
Fig. 12. Accumulated distillate production for all different operating cases.
 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49 47

efficiency for injected the air inside the developed still is higher
than that the case without air injected. This because that the hourly
production for injected the air inside the developed still is more
than that the case without air injected as shown in Fig. 11. The
maximum hourly efficiency was recorded 49.44, 49.06, 74.64,
49.45, and 65.59% for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Also, the
hourly efficiency for case C is higher than that of case E, this because
that the hourly distillate production for case-C is higher than that of
case-E.
The overall hourly efficiency of the PV module using reflectors
with cooling techniques coupled with developed solar still with air
injection is shown in Fig. 14. The outcomes show that the maximum
overall hourly efficiency of the proposed system reached to 30.7%,
31.22%, 44.84%, 32.4%, and 40.65% for cases A, B, C, D, and E,
respectively. The outcomes presented that case-C (PV module using
reflectors with forced air cooling technique coupled with devel-
oped solar still with air injection) is the optimal operating case for
the proposed system.

Fig. 14. Overall hourly efficiency of the proposed system for all different operating
cases.
7. Economic study

Economic studies of the five different cases of the proposed

hybrid system are presented in this section. The output electrical i  ð1 þ iÞn
power after overcoming the cooling techniques 823, 972, 1012, CRF ¼ (7)
ð1 þ iÞn  1
1124, 1162 Wh/day for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Also, the
distillate water production is 4280, 4262, 6034, 4281, and 5220 ml/ The PV module life years (n) and interest per year (i) was taking
m2day for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Assume that the 20 year and 18%, respectively.
proposed hybrid system operates 270 days/year, but actually, the The annual maintenance cost (AMC) was taking 18% of (AIC)
sun rises in Egypt almost throughout the year. The economic study
was done to evaluate the cost of electrical power generated by the AMC ¼ 18%AIC (8)
PV module and the cost of distillate water produced by developed The annual salvage (AS) calculated by multiplying the salvage
solar still. value (SV ¼ 20% IC) in sinking fund factor (SFF).
Annual total cost (ATC) is deduced from Eq. (5): (Kabeel and
Abdelgaied, 2017b). AS ¼ SV  SFF (9)

ATC ¼ AIC þ AMC  AS (5)

i
SFF ¼ (10)
Annual initial cost (AIC) was determined from Eq. (6). ði þ 1Þn  1

AIC ¼ IC  ðCRFÞ (6) The cost details of proposed hybrid system are listed in Table 5.
The economics study shows that the estimated cost of kWh gen-
Where; IC is the initial cost and CRF is the capital recovery factor eration from the PV modules for different techniques reaches
formulated as, approximately 0.083, 0.078, 0.083, 0.076, and 0.082 $/kWh for cases
A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. Also, the estimated cost of distillate
water production from the developed solar still for different tech-
niques reaches approximately 0.014, 0.014, 0.01, 0.014, and 0.012
$/L for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively. According to the eco-
nomic study, the cost of kWh decreased by 8.4% for using the re-
flectors and water cooling technique (case-D) as compared to the
conventional case (case-A). Also, the cost of distillate water
decreased by 28.57% for using the developed solar still with the air
injection system (case-C) as compared to the case without air in-
jection (case-A).

8. Conclusions

The experimental investigations of five operating cases of the

proposed hybrid system have been presented. This experimental
study aims to improve the performance of a PV panel using re-
flectors and cooling, as well as, improve the distillate production of
developed solar still using the air injection system. The main
conclusion was following as:

Fig. 13. Hourly efficiency of developed solar still with air injection system for all  Use the reflectors with cooling improved the output of electrical
different operating cases. power generated from the PV module by 21.62, 35.13, and
48 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49

Table 5
Cost details of proposed hybrid system; Take (1$ ¼ 17.5 LE).

Cost Case

Case-A Case-B Case-C Case-D Case-E

Cost of electrical power generation from PV module

IC, LE 1470 1630 1820 1850 2050
AIC, LE 274.63 304.5 340 345.62 383
AMC, LE 49.43 54.81 61.2 62.21 68.94
AS, LE 2 2.22 2.48 2.52 2.8
ATC, LE 322.06 357.09 398.72 405.31 449.14
Total annual electrical power produced (kWh/year) 222.21 262.44 273.24 303.48 313.74
Cost of kWh produced from PV module, LE/kWh ($/kWh) 1.45 (0.083) 1.36 (0.078) 1.45 (0.083) 1.33 (0.076) 1.43 (0.082)
Cost of distillate water produced from developed solar still
IC, LE 1320 1320 1320 1320 1320
AIC, LE 246.6 246.6 246.6 246.6 246.6
AMC, LE 44.39 44.39 44.39 44.39 44.39
AS, LE 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8
ATC, LE 289.19 289.19 289.19 289.19 289.19
Annual distillate water productivity, (L/year) 1155.6 1150.74 1629.18 1155.87 1409.4
Cost of 1 L of distillate water productivity, LE/L ($/L) 0.25 (0.014) 0.251 (0.014) 0.177 (0.01) 0.25 (0.014) 0.205 (0.012)

39.69% for cases C, D, and E, respectively compared to conven-
tional case-A.
 Use the air injection inside the developed solar still improving
the freshwater production by 40.98% and 21.96% for cases C and
E, respectively compared to the case without air injection
system.
 The maximum overall hourly efficiency was recorded 30.7,
31.22, 44.84, 32.4, and 40.65% for cases A, B, C, D, and E,
respectively.
 The estimated cost of kWh generation from the PV modules for
different techniques reaches approximately 0.083, 0.078, 0.083,
0.076, and 0.082 $/kWh for cases A, B, C, D, and E, respectively.
 The estimated cost of freshwater production from the developed
solar still for different techniques reaches approximately 0.014,
0.014, 0.01, 0.014, and 0.012 $/L for cases A, B, C, D, and E,
respectively.
The future research focus on the study the effect of the nanofluid
on the performance of photovoltaic/thermal systems with solar
concentrators coupled the desalination system.
References
Abdolzadeh, M., Ameri, M., 2009. Improving the effectiveness of a photovoltaic
water pumping system by spraying water over the front of photovoltaic cells.
Renew. Energy 34 (1), 91e96.
Badran, O.O., 2007. Experimental study of the enhancement parameters on a single
slope solar still productivity. Desalination 209 (1), 136e143.
Burhan, Muhammad, Jon Ernest, Chua Kian, Ng, Kim Choon, 2016. Simulation and
development of a multi-leg homogeniser concentrating assembly for concen-
trated photovoltaic (CPV) system with electrical rating analysis. Energy Convers.
Manag. 116, 58e71.
El-Sebaii, A.A., Aboul-Enein, S., El-Bialy, E.E., 2000. Single basin solar still with baffle
suspended absorber. Energy Convers. Manag. 41, 661e675.
Grubi
si

c-Cabo, F., Ni

zeti

c, S., Coko, D., Kragi c Ivo Marini
c, Papadopoulos A., 2018.
Experimental investigation of the passive cooled free-standing photovoltaic
panel with fixed aluminum fins on the backside surface. J. Clean. Prod. 176,
119e129.
Jamali, Siamak, Mortaza, Yari, Mahmoudi, S.M.S., 2018. Enhanced power generation
through cooling a semi-transparent PV power plant with a solar chimney. En-
ergy Convers. Manag. 175, 227e235.
Jurasz, J., Campana, P.E., 2019. The potential of photovoltaic systems to reduce en-
ergy costs for office buildings in time-dependent and peak-load-dependent
tariffs. Sustain. Cities Soc. 44, 871e879.
Kabeel, A.E., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, Mahgoub, M., 2016. The performance of a
modified solar still using hot air injection and PCM. Desalination 379, 102e107.
Kabeel, A.E., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, 2017a. Performance enhancement of modified
solar still using multi-groups of two coaxial pipes in basin. Appl. Therm. Eng.
118, 23e32.
Kabeel, A.E., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, 2017b. Observational study of modified solar
still coupled with oil serpentine loop from cylindrical parabolic concentrator
and phase changing material under basin. Sol. Energy 144, 71e78.
Kabeel, A.E., Teamah, Mohamed A., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, Gmal, B. Abdel Aziz,
2017. Modified pyramid solar still with v-corrugated absorber plate and PCM as
a thermal storage medium. J. Clean. Prod. 161, 881e887.
Kabeel, A.E., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, Amr, Eisa, 2018. Enhancing the performance of
single basin solar still using high thermal conductivity sensible storage mate-
rials. J. Clean. Prod. 183, 20e25.
Kabeel, A.E., Abdelgaied, Mohamed, Amr, Eisa, 2019. Effect of graphite mass con-
centrations in a mixture of graphite nanoparticles and paraffin wax as hybrid
storage materials on performances of solar still. Renew. Energy 132, 119e128.
Kahoul, N., Houabes, M., Sadok, M., 2014. Assessing the early degradation of
photovoltaic modules performance in the saharan region. Energy Convers.
Manag. 82, 320e326.
Kaushal, A., Varun, 2010. Solar stills: a review. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 14,
446e453.
Kline, S.J., McClintock, F.A., 1953. Describing uncertainties in single sample exper-
iments. Mech. Eng. 75, 3e8.
Krauter, Stefan, Guido, Araújo Rodrigo, Sandra, Schroer, Rolf, Hanitsch, Salhi
Mohammed, J., Clemens, Triebel, Reiner, Lemoine, 1999. Combined photovoltaic
and solar thermal systems for facade integration and building insulation. Sol.
Energy 67 (46), 239e248.
Kumar, B. Praveen, Prince, Winston D., Pounraj, P., Muthu, Manokar A.,
Sathyamurthy, R., Kabeel, A.E., 2018. Experimental investigation on hybrid PV/T
active solar still with effective heating and cover cooling method. Desalination
435, 140e151.
Lamba, Ravita, Kaushik, S.C., 2016. Modeling and performance analysis of a
concentrated photovoltaic e thermoelectric hybrid power generation system.
Energy Convers. Manag. 115, 288e298.
Mallick, T.K., Eames, P.C., Hyde, T.J., Norton, B., 2004. The design and experimental
characterisation of an asymmetric compound parabolic photovoltaic concen-
trator for building façade integration in the UK. Sol. Energy 77 (3), 319e327.
Mallick, T.K., Eames, P.C., 2007. Design and fabrication of low concentrating second
generation PRIDE concentrator. Sol. Energy Mater. Sol. Cells 91 (7), 597e608.
Marou
sek, J., Stehel, Vojte
ch, Vochozka, Marek, Kola 
r, Ladislav, Anna, Marou
skov
a,
Strunecký, Otakar, Peterka, Ji
rí, Kopecký, Marek, Shreedhar, Sowmya, 2019.
Ferrous sludge from water clarification: changes in waste management prac-
tices Advisable. J. Clean. Prod. 218, 459e464.
Mattei, M., Notton, G., Cristofari C, C., Muselli, M., Poggi, P., 2006. Calculation of the
polycrystalline pv module temperature using a simple method of energy bal-
ance. Renew. Energy 31 (4), 553e567.
Milano, Jassinnee, Ong, Hwai Chyuan, Masjuki, H.H., Chong, W.T., Lam, Man Kee,
Loh, Ping Kwan, Vellayan, Viknes, 2016. Microalgae biofuels as an alternative to
fossil fuel for power generation. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 58, 180e197.
Ndiaye, A., Ke  be
, C.M.F., Charki, A., Ndiaye, P.A., Sambou, V., Kobi, A., 2014. Degra-
dation evaluation of crystalline-silicon photovoltaic modules after a few oper-
ation years in a tropical environment. Sol. Energy 103, 70e77.
Ng, P.K., Mithraratne, N., 2014. Lifetime performance of semi-transparent building
integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) glazing systems in the tropics. Renew. Sustain.
Energy Rev. 31, 736e745.
Ni

zeti

c, S., Coko, D., Yadav, A., Grubi
si

c-Cabo, F., 2016. Water spray cooling technique
applied on a photovoltaic panel: the performance response. Energy Convers.
Manag. 108, 287e296.
Rai, S.N., Tiwari, G.N., 1983. Single basin solar still coupled with flat plate collector.
Energy Convers. Manag. 23 (3), 145e149.
Reddy, K.S., Ravi, Kumar K., O’Donovan Tadhg, S., Mallick, T.K., 2012. Performance
analysis of an evacuated multi-stage solar water desalination system. Desali-
nation 288, 80e92.
Renno, C., Petito, F., 2016. Experimental and theoretical model of a concentrating
 A.E. Kabeel, M. Abdelgaied / Journal of Cleaner Production 224 (2019) 40e49
photovoltaic and thermal system. Energy Convers. Manag. 126, 516e525.
Saretta, E., Caputo, P., Frontini, F., 2019. A review study about energy renovation of
building facades with BIPV in urban environment. Sustain. Cities Soc. 44,
343e355.
Singh, Ragh Vendra, Kumar, Shiv, Hasan, M.M., Emran, Khan M., Tiwari, G.N., 2013.
Performance of a solar still integrated with evacuated tube collector in natural
mode. Desalination 318, 25e33.
Subramani, A., Badruzzaman, M., Oppenheimer, J., Jacangelo, J.G., 2011. Energy
minimization strategies and renewable energy utilization for desalination: a
review. Water Res. 45, 1907e1920.
Tripanagnostopoulos, Y., Nousia, T.H., Souliotis, M., Yianoulis, P., 2002. Hybrid
photovoltaic/thermal solar systems. Sol. Energy 72, 217e234.
UNICEF, 2014. Drinking water and sanitation progress on. In: Tech. Rep.
Velmurugan, V., Gopalakrishnan, M., Raghu, R., Srithar, K., 2008. Single basin solar
49
still with fin for enhancing productivity. Energy Convers. Manag. 49,
2602e2608.
Würfel, P., Würfel, U., 2009. Physics of Solar Cells: from Basic Principles to Advanced
Concepts. WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Zanesco, I., Lorenzo, E., 2002. Optimisation of an asymmetric static concentrator:
the PEC-44D. Prog. Photovoltaics Res. Appl. 10 (5), 361e376.
Zhao, Zhen-Yu, Chen, Yu-Long, 2018. Critical factors affecting the development of
renewable energy power generation: evidence from China. J. Clean. Prod. 184,
466e480.
Zilli, Bruno Meneghel, Lenz Anderson, M., Nelson Melegari de, Souza Samuel,
Deonir, Secco, Eduardo Camargo, Nogueira Carlos, Hideo Ando, Junior Oswaldo,
Cezar, Nadaleti Willian, Antonio Cruz, Siqueira Jair, Flavio, Gurgacz, 2018. Per-
formance and effect of water-cooling on a microgeneration system of photo-
voltaic solar energy in Parana Brazil. J. Clean. Prod. 192, 477e485.