Evaluation of phase change materials for thermal regulation enhancement of building integrated photovoltaics

Regulating the temperature of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) using phase change materials (PCMs) reduces the loss of temperature dependent photovoltaic (PV) efficiency. Five PCMs were selected for evaluation all with melting temperatures ∼25 ± 4 °C and heat of fusion between 140 and 213 kJ/kg. Experiments were conducted at three insolation intensities to evaluate the performance of each PCM in four different PV/PCM systems. The effect on thermal regulation of PV was determined by changing the (i) mass of PCM and (ii) thermal conductivities of the PCM and PV/PCM system. A maximum temperature reduction of 18 °C was achieved for 30 min while 10 °C temperature reduction was maintained for 5 h at −1000 W/m2 insolation.