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Experimental investigation of energy and exergy characteristics of a novel solar collector with swirling reversed circular flow jet impingement
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  • Published: 31 January 2026

Experimental investigation of energy and exergy characteristics of a novel solar collector with swirling reversed circular flow jet impingement

  • Morad Ahmad Alzoubi1,
  • Adnan Ibrahim1,
  • Mohammad Alkhedher2,
  • Hariam Luqman Azeez1,
  • Muhammad Amir Aziat Ishak3,
  • Yassine El Alami4 &
  • …
  • Ahmad Fazlizan1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Energy science and technology
  • Engineering

Abstract

Even though Photovoltaic technology is considered to be among the most convenient sources of electricity production, surface heat accumulation has consistently reduced its conversion efficiency. Therefore, many cooling strategies have been proposed, among which the Reversed Circular Flow Jet Impingement RCFJI is the most recent. This study seeks to address challenges associated with RCFJI, such as low turbulence generation and a high friction penalty, by developing a new design featuring Swirling Reversed Circular Flow Jet Impingement. The study was performed employing a solar simulator under air mass flow rates of (0.01–0.13) kg/s and an irradiance of (500–900) W/m2. The principal results showed that mass flow rate positively influences the efficiency of the proposed prototype, whereas solar irradiance has the opposite effect. The new design enhanced electrical energy efficiency by 12.42%, thermal energy efficiency by 4.33%, electrical exergy efficiency by 11.46%, and thermal exergy efficiency by 4.81%. Power production increased by 22.00% compared to a bare PV module. These data provide evidence that the proposed study design can better manage the thermal challenges of PV modules than PV alone or standard RCFJI.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

\(A_{PV}\) :

Area of the solar panel (m2)

\(CP\) :

Specific heat (J/kg K)

\(E_{in}\) :

Energy in (W)

\(E_{loss}\) :

Energy loss (W)

\(EX_{in}\) :

Exergy in (w)

\(EX_{loss}\) :

Exergy loss

\(EX_{out }\) :

Exergy out (W)

\(E_{out }\) :

Energy out (W)

\(E_{sun}\) :

Sun energy (W)

\(E_{p}\) :

Energy loss from friction

FF:

Fill factor (%)

H:

Enthalpy

\(I_{sc}\) :

Current of short circuit (A)

I:

Solar irradiance (W/m2)

\(I_{max}\) :

Maximum current (A)

\(P_{Max}\) :

Maximum power (W)

\(Q_{u}\) :

Heat obtained (W)

RCFJI :

Reversed circular flow jet impingement

S:

Entropy

SRCFJI:

Swirling reversed circular flow jet impingement

\(T_{in }\) :

Inlet temperature (°C)

\(T_{out }\) :

Outlet temperature (°C)

\(T_{s}\) :

Sun temperature (°C)

\(T_{a}\) :

Ambient temperature (°C)

\(V_{oc}\) :

Voltage of open circuit (V)

Vmax:

Maximum voltage (V)

ṁ:

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

\({\uprho }\) :

Density (kg/m3)

\(u\) :

Velocity (m/s)

\(\mu\) :

Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)

\({\tau }_{gl}\) :

Transmissivity of the glass

\(\eta_{p}\) :

Pump efficiency (%)

\(\upalpha _{cell}\) :

The absorptivity of the cell

\(\Delta P\) :

Pressure drops (pascal)

\(\varepsilon_{e}\) :

Electrical exergy efficiency %

\(\eta_{t}\) :

Total energy efficiency %

\(\lambda\) :

Thermal conductivity (W/M K)

\(\varepsilon_{th}\) :

Thermal exergy efficiency (%)

\(\varepsilon_{t}\) :

Total exergy (%)

\(\eta_{t}\) :

Thermal efficiency (%)

\(\eta_{e}\) :

Electrical efficiency (%)

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Acknowledgements

Sincerely, thank you to the Solar Thermal and Sustainable Technology Group, under the Sustainable Resources, Nature and Smart Living Cluster, University Research Group (KPU), and the Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, for their invaluable support and guidance throughout this project.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Solar Energy Research Institute, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Morad Ahmad Alzoubi, Adnan Ibrahim, Hariam Luqman Azeez & Ahmad Fazlizan

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Abu Dhabi University, PO Box 59911, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Mohammad Alkhedher

  3. School of Engineering, Faculty of Innovation & Technology, Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

    Muhammad Amir Aziat Ishak

  4. Laboratory of Electronics, Instrumentation and Energetic, Faculty of Sciences, Chouaïb Doukkali University, B.P 20, El Jadida, Morocco

    Yassine El Alami

Authors
  1. Morad Ahmad Alzoubi
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  2. Adnan Ibrahim
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  3. Mohammad Alkhedher
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  4. Hariam Luqman Azeez
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  6. Yassine El Alami
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  7. Ahmad Fazlizan
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Contributions

Morad Ahmad Alzoubi: review & editing, Writing—original draft, Validation, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Adnan Ibrahim: Writing—review & editing, Validation, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Mohammad Alkhedher: Writing—review & editing, Validation, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. Hariam Luqman Azeez: Validation, Methodology, Data curation. Muhammad Amir Aziat Ishak: Validation, Methodology, Data curation. Yassine El Alami: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, and Validation. Ahmad Fazlizan: Writing—review & editing, Validation, Supervision.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Adnan Ibrahim.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Alzoubi, M.A., Ibrahim, A., Alkhedher, M. et al. Experimental investigation of energy and exergy characteristics of a novel solar collector with swirling reversed circular flow jet impingement. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37654-0

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  • Received: 21 November 2025

  • Accepted: 23 January 2026

  • Published: 31 January 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37654-0

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Keywords

  • Swirling effect
  • Jet impingement
  • Passive cooling
  • The effect of operational parameters
  • Energy and exergy analysis
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