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To address the problems of low power generation efficiency and low security of solar photovoltaic cells, a novel and versatile PV panel cooling strategy was proposed; which employed an absorbent hydrogel evaporative (AHE) cooling with 3D porous copper foam (CF) composite structure as an effective cooling component. By comparing natural cooling, comprehensive indoor simulated and outdoor experimental studies were conducted to explore the feasibility of enhancing the electrical output performance of PV cells. The effects of solar irradiation, environment humidity, ambient temperature and wind speed on heat transfer performance and the generated electricity power efficiency of PV with CF-AHE cooling panel were comprehensively analyzed and discussed. Present research demonstrated that the CF-AHE cooling layer of three solar irradiations (0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 sun conditions) could remove 449∼713W/m2 of heat from a photovoltaic cell, which significantly out-performed that of general cooling methodology depending on wind or buoyancy driven ventilation. The results further indicated that CF-AHE significantly reduces the cell temperature, enhancing the temperature uniformity of PV cell modules, i.e., the PV cell temperature ranges from 43–46 °C, markedly lower than the 53–66 °C observed with natural cooling. Additionally, average electrical efficiencies were enhanced by 4.69 %, 8.53 % and 12.84 % compared with that of natural cooling method, respectively. Subsequently, in the field test conducted in Wuhan city of China , current results further showed that our proposed cooling unit has boosted the power generation of PV panels by 14.01 % and reduced PV surface temperature by no less than 10 °C, simultaneously. Therefore, CF-AHE cooling structure can furnish excellent heat transfer characteristics and efficient electrical generation performance of PV panel. This research will provide valuable guidance for design of photovoltaic-AHE cooling systems and verifies the feasibility of such systems. [Display omitted] • Nano structures of porous copper foam and absorbent hydrogel were firstly designed. • An absorbent hydrogel evaporative (AHE) cooling with 3D porous copper foam (CF) was proposed. • Power generation and thermal management of PVs could be simultaneously enhanced by CF-AHE. • Potentials on commercial PVs have been demonstrated both by on-site and lab experiments. • AHE-CF could be especially advantageous in the regions of high temperature and humidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel coaxial condensing heat pipe applied in the solar CCHP/PVT system was proposed. • Thermal, electrical and exergy efficiencies of the solar CCHP/PVT system were defined. • Proposed CCHP/PVT system has better performance in thermal and electrical efficiencies. • Current theoretical models and codes were well validated by former experiments and results. • CCHP/PVT was favored for solar exploitation, particularly in the solar energy poor regions. Heat pipes offer tremendous potential for utilization in the energy and construction industries due to their excellent heat transmission efficiency. The current study involved the development of a theoretical model for thermal transport in a coaxial condensing heat pipe (CCHP) connected with solar photovoltaic and thermal (PVT) systems. Subsequently, parameter studies were conducted to analyze their impact on system performance, including irradiation intensity, surrounding temperature, inlet temperature, mass flow rate and PV coverage factor. In addition, temperature variation, thermal and electrical conversion capabilities of the CCHP/PVT system on typical days were discussed utilizing meteorological conditions in Wuhan city as inputs for the analysis. Our findings showed that the morning is when thermal efficiency is at its highest across the seasons, and it remained between 50% and 55%. Compared to natural cooling and conventional heat pipe cooling, the CCHP/PVT system reduced the temperature of the PV panels by approximately 30.3% and 16.3%, respectively. The proposed CCHP/PVT system has a respectively 14.4% and 5.2% enhancement in thermal and electrical efficiencies in comparison with those conventional heat pipes. Here, theoretical results agree well with former published ones, with average errors of no more than 10%. Our parametric investigations were then put into practice to assess the overall performance and to serve as a theoretical foundation for later development. It was really beneficial to boost the efficiency of solar energy utilization in the Yangtze River, China, where solar potentials were relatively poor than north western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]