Investigation of a binary eutectic mixture of phase change material for building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system

The incorporation of phase change material (PCM) into the building integrated semi-transparent photovoltaic (BISTPV) system is a promising technology to regulate the enhanced surface temperature of the photovoltaic (PV) system. In this work, Sodium Sulfate Decahydrate (Na2SO4 center dot 10H(2)O) and Zinc Nitrate Hexahydrate (N2O6Zn center dot 6H(2)O) were mixed to form the binary eutectic PCM by heating mixing method. The results of Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) characterization of those eutectic mixtures showed that the molar mass proportion of 70% weight of Na2SO4 center dot 10H(2)O and 30% weight N2O6Zn center dot 6H(2)O was an optimum eutectic mixture for the solar energy applications. The developed eutectic mixture was employed in the specially designed and fabricated building-integrated semi-transparent photovoltaic phase change material (BISTPV-PCM) system to regulate BISTPV cell temperature. The experimentation was carried out at the outdoor environmental conditions in the region of Kovilpatti (9 degrees 10'0 '' N, 77 degrees 52'0 '' E), Tamilnadu, India throughout the year of 2018. The instantaneous peak temperature was reduced up to 12 degrees C for the BISTPV-PCM system compared to the non-PCM counterpart. The annual output power generated from the BISTPV module was 34,287 W h/year which increased to 37,024 W h/year by using PCM.