Experimental study on a binary mixture ratio of fatty acid-based PCM integrated to PV panel for thermal regulation on a hot and cold month

Abstract

This paper presents the thermal regulation for photovoltaic panel by integrating PCM unit of 30 mm and 50 mm thickness. Eutectic mixture of Lauric and Palmitic Acids in the ratio of 69:31 and 85:15 was used to achieve the melting temperature of 35°C and 40°C, derived from average ambient and cell temperature for hot and cold months. This experimental study shows that average increase inperformance ratio from reference panel to 30 mm and 50 mm PCM panels were 1.54% and 2.36%, for March and 1.28% and 1.66%, for December. Further, the average efficiency of the panel was increased from 9.28% to 9.43% and 9.51% in March and 10.19% to 10.31% and 10.35% in December.

Keywords

• thermal management
• pcm
• pv module cooling
• binary eutectic pcm
• performance enhancement
• electrical efficiency enhancement