Heat transfer study of poly-c PV system integrated with phase change material under semi-arid area (Errachidia-Drâa Tafilalet)

Abstract

The high operating temperature of the photovoltaic (PV) modules decreases significantly its efficiency. The integration of phase change material (PCM) is one of the feasible techniques for reducing the operating temperature of the PV module. A numerical simulation of the PV module with PCM and without PCM has been realized. The thermal behavior of the PV module was evaluated at the melting and solidification processes of PCM. The results show that the integration of RT35HC PCM with a thickness of 4 cm reduces the temperature of the PV module by 8 °C compared to the reference module. Compared the RT35 and RT35HC, we found that the latent heat has a significant effect on the PCM thermal comportment. Furthermore, it has been found that the thermal resistance of the layers plays an important role to dissipate the heat from the PV cells to the PCM layer, consequently improving the heat transfer inside the PV/PCM system.