This review paper serves as a critical study on various techniques used to cool photovoltaic thermal (PV/T) systems and to improve their efficiency. The growing concern about generating clean energy has led people to develop PV/T systems, which can produce electricity and thermal energy simultaneously. The paper discusses the latest cooling arrangements employed in PV/T systems, including air cooling, water cooling, bi-fluid cooling, heat pipe cooling, and phase change material-assisted cooling. The study also discusses thermal, electrical, and exergy analyses, as well as maintenance optimization methods reported in previous publications, to better understand the benefits and constraints of various PV/T technologies. Additionally, a brief introduction to recent trends, such as artificial intelligence (AI)-based optimization of PV/T cooling systems, is provided. Several research gaps have been identified, including the long-term stability of nanofluids, the optimization of hybrid cooling technology, thermal management, exergy performance, maintenance, and AI-assisted aspects of the technology. Instead of presenting an innovative cooling technique, the current study aims to conduct an extensive literature review and comparative analysis on PV/T cooling technology.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are extremely prone to wear and tear and physical damage due to large variation in environmental conditions. Integration of real-time monitoring systems with PV would be highly advantageous in detecting early faults and performance degradation consequently leads to timely maintenance and repair. This can also reduce recurring cost, enhance reliability, efficacy, and performance of PV systems that eventually lead to generation of sustainable energy. This study presents a cost-effective solution that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) for real-time monitoring of PV systems and for optimizing maximum power point tracking (MPPT). A fuzzy logic-based algorithm is used in hardware to track the MPPT and process data. Furthermore, the developed solution is experimentally validated on a real system under varying outdoor conditions. The developed system is found to be 99.4% efficient in the real experimental setup under outdoor conditions. The simulated outcomes closely match the experimental results, and the developed hardware can adjust the duty cycle for MPPT tracking across varying irradiance levels.