# Selection of a Photovoltaic Panel Cooling Technique Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
## 5 Conclusions  
The importance of PV panel cooling especially under high temperature ambient conditions has been frequently reported in the literature, and multiple methods for reducing the temperature have evolved recently. Selection of the right cooling method requires the consideration of different criteria, namely, technology feasibility, economic performance, environmental aspects and ergonomics. Multi-criteria decision analysis, which is an ideal tool, has been successfully used in this situation to rank the different cooling technologies. Eight different cooling methods were identified, and the analysis was made with the multi-criteria analysis tool on the different possible attributes. Two different climate zones with different weight schemes are considered for the evaluation process and the best to the worst cooling solution has been identified. Five different scenarios depending on the importance given to each evaluation criterion are analyzed. The best cooling method to the worst cooling method has been arranged under each scenario. When the efficiency of operation was given maximum weight, aluminum fin cooling proved to be the best panel cooling method. When the emission reduction criterion was given maximum weight, thermosiphon cooling was the best cooling option. A comparison of the results indicates that thermosiphon works out to be the best option. The second-best method was found to be forced convection cooling when equal weights were applied and thermosiphon cooling when a 40% weight on the efficiency enhancement criterion was applied, which is a more practical weight distribution. Phase change cooling and forced convection cooling were the poorest in performance from among the different cooling methods for all weighing scenarios. The strategy here takes into account the hazy nature of decision-making. To create the desired outranking connection between all of the various cooling solutions, it synthesizes the preference relationships for each alternative. To determine the impact of changes in the weighting given to objective criteria, a sensitivity analysis can also be performed. Future studies can be performed with the end use of the heat removed from the panel as one of the possible attributes which are reported in photovoltaic thermal collectors in recent research. Similar studies can be specifically focused on the different photovoltaic technologies. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline \hline PV panel cooling method () & \multicolumn{3}{c}{Scenario 5: 50\% weight to emission and the rest total 50\%} \\ \cline{2-5}  & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{*}\) (distance from the best ideal) & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\) (distance from the worst ideal) & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\)/(D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{*}\) + D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\)) & Rank C\({}_{i}\) \\ \hline AFC & 0.1076 & 0.1040 & 0.4916 & 3 \\ \hline HPC & 0.1054 & 0.0744 & 0.4137 & 7 \\ \hline PCC & 0.1025 & 0.1039 & 0.5035 & 2 \\ \hline TCC & 0.0946 & 0.1108 & 0.5394 & 1 \\ \hline TPC & 0.1039 & 0.0810 & 0.4380 & 6 \\ \hline FFC & 0.1106 & 0.0765 & 0.4090 & 8 \\ \hline WSC & 0.1023 & 0.0905 & 0.4695 & 4 \\ \hline ESC & 0.1031 & 0.0905 & 0.4674 & 5 \\ \hline \multicolumn{5}{c}{Scenario 6: 60\% weight to efficiency and the rest total 40\%} \\ \cline{2-5}  & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{*}\) (distance from the best ideal) & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\) (distance from the worst ideal) & D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\)/(D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{*}\) + D\({}_{1}\)\({}^{-}\)) & Rank C\({}_{i}\) \\ \hline AFC & 0.1022 & 0.1873 & 0.6470 & 1 \\ \hline HPC & 0.1649 & 0.1111 & 0.4025 & 7 \\ \hline PCC & 0.1827 & 0.0932 & 0.3378 & 8 \\ \hline TCC & 0.1632 & 0.1232 & 0.4302 & 5 \\ \hline TPC & 0.1628 & 0.1260 & 0.4362 & 4 \\ \hline FFC & 0.1736 & 0.1189 & 0.4064 & 6 \\ \hline WSC & 0.1603 & 0.1429 & 0.4714 & 2 \\ \hline ESC & 0.1622 & 0.1428 & 0.4681 & 3 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Note. \({}^{\lx@sectionsign}\) Refer to Table 5.  
\end{table} 
Table 11: _Cont._  
**Author Contributions:** Formal analysis, Z.K. and A.U.R. ; Methodology, Z.K. ; TROPSIS, A.U.R. ; Writing and original draft, Z.K.