COMPARISON OF OUTPUT POWER OF PHOTOVOLTAIC SOLAR PANELS WITH AND WITHOUT CONCAVE ALUMINIUM REFLECTORS AT VARIOUS ANGLES

Abstrak

The increasing demand for energy has encouraged the use of renewable resources, especially solar energy. The efficiency of solar panels is strongly influenced by sunlight intensity and environmental conditions. This study aims to analyze the effect of varying concave aluminum reflector angles on the power output and efficiency of a solar panel and to determine the most optimal configuration. A 50 Wp monocrystalline solar panel was tested using reflector angles of 50°, 60°, 70°, 80°, and 90°, along with a comparison panel without a reflector. Measurements were taken every 10 minutes from 10:00 to 14:00 (WIB), focusing on Voc, Isc, current (mA), and surface temperature. The results show that concave aluminum reflectors can significantly increase Voc, Isc, and output power compared to the panel without a reflector. The 80° reflector produced the highest efficiency at 12,75%, followed by 90° at 12,29% and 70° at 5,57%. Meanwhile, the 50° and 60° reflectors resulted in decreased efficiency at –21,68% and –6,83%. These reductions occur because smaller angles fail to direct reflected sunlight effectively toward the panel surface. Overall, the 80° concave aluminum reflector is identified as the most efficient configuration for improving the performance of the 50 Wp monocrystalline solar panel.