Heat transfer studies of photovoltaic panel coupled with phase change material

The higher operating temperature of photovoltaic panels (above the standard operating temperature, usually 25 °C) adversely affects the panel's efficiency. PV panel coupled with phase change materials (PCM) could be a feasible solution due to the higher energy storage density of such materials. However, heat transfer studies of PCM combined with PV panel are quite intricate due to variable ambient conditions and changing thermo-physical property of the material with phase change. In the present study, detailed heat transfer study of the PV panel coupled with PCM has been performed. The computational fluid dynamic study of the PV module coupled with PCM is carried out in which essential heat transfer mechanisms between PV module to PCM and environment have been accounted for. Additionally, its effect on power output has been investigated to see the variation of PV module operating temperature. This study clearly suggests that for realistic simulation of heat and mass transfer studies of PV panel attached with PCM, it is very important to consider following effects into account: convection effect within melted PCM, the velocity of wind, and angle of inclination of PV panel. The results from the study demonstrate the ability and importance of such model to reasonably simulate the thermal characteristics of PV panels coupled with PCM. The maximum panel operating temperature with conduction and convection effect is found to be 54.90 °C and 58.5 °C when convection mode in melted PCM (only conduction mode) is not considered. It has also been shown that the higher wind velocity and tilt angle leads to lower operating temperature of PV panels.