Experimental Investigation of Photovoltaic-Based Water Heating System

Solar energy is an energy source whose availability is guaranteed, renewable energy which has enormous potential in the future. In addition to lowering environmental pollutants, solar energy can be used directly or indirectly for heating. A photovoltaic-based water heating system (PVWHS) is designed to utilize solar energy into electrical energy using photovoltaic cells, which are then connected to a DC heating element to heat the water in the tank. Testing this tool uses experimental methods to identify the optimal temperature of water, the energy needed to heat the water and thermal efficiency of the PVWHS. The test was carried-out using polycrystal photovoltaic cells and by varying the volume of the water tank, namely 10 liters, 15 liters and 25 liters. The results of this research show that a 10 liters water tank volume can increase the average water temperature by 10.7˚C. And a water tank volume of 15 liters can increase the average water temperature by 8.1˚C, and a water tank volume of 25 liters can increase the average water temperature by 5.6˚C. The efficiency of polycrystal photovoltaic cells was found to be an average efficiency of 7.34%. Meanwhile, the maximum heater efficiency was found to be 73.6% for all variations of water tanks. As for the maximum total efficiency value, the overall system efficiency is 5.35% for all water tank variations.