Thermal management of conventional PV panel using PCM with movable shutters - A numerical study

Effect of Phase Change Material (PCM) on electrical efficiency and operating temperature of PV panel is studied in this article. PCM is filled in rotatable shutters attached to the back side of PV panel. PCM filled rotatable shutters are used to ensure the complete solidification of PCM during non-sunshine hours. During sunshine hours PCM filled shutters are closed and absorb excess heat generated by PV panel. The absorbed heat is discharged by rotating the PCM filled shutters to ambient during non-sunshine hours. The modeling results revealed that conventional PV panel temperature without PCM can be as high as 64 degrees C that can be reduced to 42 degrees C using PCM filled shutters with melting temperature of 35 degrees C. Efficiency can be improved up to 9% during peak summer season for the PV panel working under hot humid climatic conditions. Maximum benefits of PCM in terms of temperature reduction and are observed during the summer season compared to the winter season. The study also suggested that states if the PCM melting temperature is approximately equal to the average of the maximum ambient temperature of all summer months, then maximum benefits in terms of efficiency improvement and temperature reduction can be achieved for the whole year.