Performance Enhancement by Cooling the PV Panels Using Phase Change Material (RT35): ANSYS Simulation and Experimental Investigation

Abstract

The efficiency of solar panels is highly affected by the ambient temperature, which limits electrical energy production. There are several cooling techniques to minimize the PV panels’ temperature. Using a Phase Change Material (PCM) is one of the critical techniques to choose. The desirable thermal, kinetic, and chemical properties of PCM are critical conditions for the steady-state thermal Latent Heat Storage Unit efficiency (LHSU). The Phase change material must be thermally stable and dependable. Due to the hot season temperatures in Jordan; RT35 has been chosen as a PCM. The poor thermal conductivity of this material is one of its drawbacks, thus, aluminum fins as a high conductivity material have been added to the proposed design in order to manage the temperature of the phase change material as a Thermal Conductivity Enhancer (TCE). This study intends to enhance the PV cells’ performance by proposing a new design of PV panels with RT35 and fins as a cooling technique. As a result, adding RT35 has a significant impact on reducing the PV panel’s temperature by 16℃, while adding the rectangular fins contributes to decreasing the temperature by another 2℃. Thus, adding RT35 in conjunction with fins will enhance the efficiency and the output power of the PV panel resulting in an 11% increase in electrical production. The results have been validated through ANSYS simulation as well as experimental work which shows a good correlation with the theoretical analysis.