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RE: More Power from the 400 Watt Wind Turbine with a Hybrid Wind/Solar MPPT Charge Controller
I have not experimented with cooling them but there is a lot of info on the internet about doing it. I would advise misting the rear of the panels and using a tray to catch the evaporated water so that it can be reclaimed. I would also advise being careful to not use chlorinated water, water that contains salt or anything that might otherwise corrode or cause buildup on the panels. The real boost to efficiency comes from using mirrors (or other means of reflecting sunlight onto the panels) and Then water cooling them. The cooling itself only increases the efficiency (according to my research) by 10-20% but cooling and reflecting the sunlight gives a boost of 75-100%.
So best bet would be distilled water. How would one catch evaporated water?
With all the crap they spray in the skies any boost would be beneficial.
If you use mirrors, I'd imagine you would most definately need to cool them. I would be concerned about starting a fire.
Maybe 'evaporated' was not the best word to use. I am talking about the water that collects on the back of the panel and drips off. Perhaps an air-conditioner or water heater drip pan would work well for collecting the water. Most of them have a drain on them that can be attached to with standard plumbing fittings.
Also any reflective surface would work and you would not necessarily have to use mirrors. That is definitely a valid concern about fire but I think that it can be done safely. There are a lot of images of various reflective surfaces/material that people use to reflect more sunlight onto solar panels. Perhaps a simple online image search will show you some examples.
Distilled water would probably work best but I think as long as you do not have a lot of iron, calcium, sulfur or minerals in the water it would work fine.
My panels are all on the roof so reflecting something is not really possible.