Alexandria Engineering Journal (Jun 2022)
Performance enhancement of photovoltaic cells using phase change material (PCM) in winter
Abstract
The performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules worsens due to increasing their operating temperature. In the current study, a passive cooling technique comprising an aluminum metal foam (AMF) with PCM for thermal regulation of a PV system is performed. Outdoors experiments are conducted comprising two modules: PV without any modifications and PV with AMF embedded in PCM denoted as PV/PCM/AMF. The temperature distribution on the surface of the PV panels, PCM temperature, open-circuit voltage, and output power produced were recorded during the winter period. The results revealed that the PV surface temperature of the PV-PCM/AFM system was 4 %, 7.4 %, and 13.2 % lower than that of conventional PV, and the power produced from PV-PCM/AFM system was 1.85 %, 3.38 %, and 4.14 % higher than that of conventional PV in December, January, and February, respectively.