Thermal regulation and electrical performance improvement of solar panels using magnetically assisted nanofluid flow

This study is directed toward improving the thermal regulation of photovoltaic modules by employing ferrofluid-based laminar cooling within confined jet systems and triangular channel geometries. To enhance energy recovery, a thermoelectric generator (TEG) was incorporated between the absorber layer and the cooling unit, enabling the conversion of residual thermal energy into supplementary electrical power. The introduction of an external magnetic field, acting through Lorentz forces, substantially intensified the cooling effectiveness and improved the operational stability of the photovoltaic panel. This study introduces a novel integrated framework that simultaneously considers magnetic cooling using ferrofluid, confined jet impingement in triangular channels, thermoelectric energy harvesting, and the influence of dust deposition within a photovoltaic-thermoelectric (PV-TEG) system. Dust deposition was incorporated to represent realistic outdoor operating conditions, while the applied magnetic field was utilized to enhance ferrofluid heat transfer characteristics through magnetically induced flow modification. Key performance metrics, including thermal efficiency (η_th), thermoelectric efficiency (η_TE), and, photovoltaic efficiency (η_PV) were systematically evaluated under a range of operating conditions. The results indicate that increasing the inlet velocity of the coolant significantly improved temperature uniformity across the panel surface by approximately 27.11%. Furthermore, elevating the Hartmann number (Ha) led to efficiency enhancements of 3.59% in η_TE. In contrast, dust deposition exerted a pronounced adverse effect, reducing η_PV, η_TE, and η_th by 24.21%, 14.18%, and 8.11%, respectively.