Performance enhancement of photovoltaic module using finned phase change material panel: An experimental study under Iraq hot climate conditions

ABSTRACT

The operational temperature highly influences the efficiency of the solar photovoltaic (PV) module, in which high temperature decreases the output power accordingly. In this work, a polycrystalline PV module is modified using a finned phase change material (PCM) panel attached to the rear as a thermal energy storage unit to decrease and regulate the operating temperature under hot weather conditions in southern Iraq. For this purpose, local Iraqi paraffin wax is used as a PCM loaded into a galvanized steel panel that has internal smooth wavy fins to improve the PCM poor thermal conductivity and accelerate its melting and solidification rates. Experimental results showed that the modified PV module temperature is decreased by up to 16°C compared with the reference PV module, resulting in maximum output power of up to 38.4% more than an identical reference PV module. Moreover, the electrical efficiency of the modified PV module is improved respectively by 34% and 37.2% on the first and second day of the experiment over the reference PV module, indicating remarkable electrical and thermal performance improvement.

KEYWORDS:

• Photovoltaic module
• phase change material
• fins
• PV thermal performance
• passive cooling

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).