Investigation of Inorganic Phase Change Material for a Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic (STPV) Module

Alagar Karthick,Aritra Ghosh,Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar,Muthu Manokar Athikesavan,Manoj Kumar Pasupathi,Shauhrat S Chopra

doi:10.3390/en13143582

Abstract

The semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) module is an emerging technology to harness the solar energy in the building. Nowadays, buildings are turning from energy consumers to energy producers due to the integration of the STPV module on the building envelopes and facades. In this research, the STPV module was integrated on the rooftop window of the experimental room at Kovilpatti (9°10′0″ N, 77°52′0″ E), Tamil Nadu, India. The performance of the STPV modules varies with respect to the geographical location, incident solar radiation, and surface temperature of the module. The surface temperature of the STPV module was regulated by the introduction of the mixture of graphene oxide and sodium sulphate decahydrate (Na2SO4·10H2O). The various concentration of the graphene oxide was mixed together with the Na2SO4·10H2O to enhance the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of the mixture 0.3 concentration was found to be optimum from the analysis. The instantaneous peak temperature of the semi-transparent photovoltaic phase change material (STPV-PCM) module was reduced to 9 °C during summer compared to the reference STPV. At the same time, the energy conversion efficiency was increased by up to 9.4% compared to the conventional STPV module. Due to the incorporation of the graphene oxide and Na2SO4·10H2O, the daily output power production of the STPV module was improved by 12.16%.

Highlights

The depletion of fossil fuel leads to a search for renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar, wind, and fuel cells
The building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) modules absorb only 25% of the incident solar radiation, and the remaining energy is converted into heat; some energy is reflected into the atmosphere due to the glare from the BIPV module surface [13]
Two special prototypes of the semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) modules were fabricated, and among the two, one module had the provision of incorporating phase change material (PCM), and the one acted as a reference module

Summary

Introduction

The depletion of fossil fuel leads to a search for renewable energy sources (RES) such as solar, wind, and fuel cells. Earlier, these energy sources were widely used for a large scale power generation sector. The BIPV modules absorb only 25% of the incident solar radiation, and the remaining energy is converted into heat; some energy is reflected into the atmosphere due to the glare from the BIPV module surface [13]. Due to the absorption of the solar radiation, the surface temperature of the BIPV module increases and affects the energy conversion process and output power of the BIPV module [14]. The active method requires external sources to flow water or air by employing external power sources, which makes the overall system complex and costlier compared to the passive system [15,16]

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Discussion

Conclusion