An innovative solution to the overheating problem of PV panels

•A perforated PV panel has a lower surface temperature than a non-perforated panel.•The temperature of the PV panel decreases with the number of through holes.•The decrease in the average temperature of the PV panel becomes marginal after a certain number of holes.•There is a critical diameter for the through holes, such that below and above the critical diameter less cooling occurs. Overheating of silicon PV panels due to excessive solar irradiance and high environmental temperatures is a major problem especially in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The temperature of PV panels can easily go up to 75 °C in such regions, which corresponds to a drop in efficiency of about 25%. An innovative solution is presented in this research to minimize overheating of PV panels, and that is based on natural convection. Through holes are drilled in the PV panel to assist the uprising of the hot boundary layer under the panel causing cooling of the panel. Experiments have been performed to proof the idea, and then numerical simulations are performed for further exploration of the influence of the hole size and number of holes. It was found that the temperature of the perforated PV panels is lower than the temperature of the non-perforated panels, and that temperature difference increases with increasing number of holes. However, there is a critical diameter for the hole size, such that before and after that diameter the temperature of the PV panel increases. It can be concluded from the performed research that adding through holes in the PV panel is a passive cooling technique that can minimize overheating of the panel.