Conference article

Photovoltaics (PVs) operate at around 40°C above ambient temperature in full sun. On a cold day in Europe the cell temperature will be at 30°C and compared to a summer temperature of up to 80°C. As each ten temperature increases the efficiency of the crystal silicon photovoltaic will reduce 10%. So considering the whole year; running at 25°C for Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) will be an ideal temperature target to achieve in order to keep PV cells at their peak efficiency in Europe. Passive heat removal technique was applied for thermal regulation of PV using Phase Change Material (PCM) integrated on the back of the PV. The temperature in PV can be effective regulated; but the low thermal conductivity of the PCMs is one of the main problems for this application. This paper details the results of a theoretical investigation and analysis of PV temperature control and solar thermal energy storage achieved using phase change materials with different types of fins; structure and PCMs. The predicted performance provides an insight into the effects of using various quantities of different PCM materials with different types of fins and thermal storage for selected ambient conditions of temperature and insolation. From this parametric study; optimum arrangements of the PV/PCM system with different type of fins are proposed; thereby improving the efficiency of the PV/PCM system.

Phase change materials; Photovoltaic and Building Integrated Photovoltaics