Increasing the electrical efficiency and thermal management of a photovoltaic module using expanded graphite (EG)/paraffin-beef tallow-coconut oil composite as phase change material

Abstract

In this study, a new PCM composite of paraffin with beef tallow/coconut oil mixture are used to augment the heat removal from the surface of a PV module. At first, the composite of paraffin-beef tallow/coconut oil (PBTCO) is used as the PCM to thermal regulation of a PV module. The effects of the weight of PCMs (W = 2.1–4.1 kg) on surface temperature and power output of PV module are investigated. In the second step, expanded graphite powders (EG) (X3 = 0.5–10.5 %wt.) are added to PBTCO to augment its thermal conductivity. Response surface methodology is applied to achieve optimal parameters and conditions for the PV/EG-PBTCO system. Measurements show that temperature and output power are as high as 64.02 °C and 4.875 W, respectively, for an uncooled system. The composite of 63.1% paraffin and 36.9% BTCO (mass fraction of BT = 39% and mass fraction of CO = 61%) is the more efficient PCM. In addition, results show that adding EG particles to PBTCO composite has significant added benefits over no using them. The predicted temperature and output power at the optimum point are found to be 32.9 °C and 8.923 W, respectively, at X3 = 9.94 %wt and PCM weight of 3.57 kg.