🧪 Energy Technology Solar Energy Optimization Simulation

A solar cell that gets hot makes less power — real silicon panels lose roughly 0.4% of their output for every degree above 25°C, following the same NOCT (Nominal Operating Cell Temperature) model utility engineers use to size real arrays. This simulator renders a rooftop panel in 3D whose surface color tracks its live cell temperature, alongside a fan and a water-spray nozzle you can switch on to cool it. Tune irradiance, ambient temperature and wind to set the weather, then dial in a cooling strategy and intensity: forced-air fan power grows with the cube of fan speed while a circulation pump draws roughly linearly, so cranking cooling too high burns more parasitic power than the thermal recovery is worth. Three live bars track gross panel power, parasitic draw, and the net power that actually reaches the grid — the genuine optimization problem a system designer solves when deciding whether, and how much, active cooling pays for itself.