Numerical Investigation of Thermal Regulation Improvement of Curved PV Panel Using PCM

Abstract

The elevation of photovoltaic (PV) cells temperature reduce its electrical conversion efficiency (above to characterization temperature usually 25 ℃). The use of a phase change material (PCM) layer linked to a PV cells panel can decrease its temperature rise. This paper based on a numerical study of the effect of the tilt angle of curved PV panel with 100 mm of curvature radius (Technology so-called PV-mirror) on its thermal performance. For this raison a 2D model of heat transfer conjugated with a solid-liquid phase change was developed and validated with an experimental data for two PV/PCM systems with and without fins, where a good agreement was obtained. The Results reveal that the tilt angle (more than 45°) allows a good thermal regulation, a noticeable decrease in PV cell temperature more than 20 ℃ compared with a single curved PV which maintain its efficiency et 14%. In addition the heat transfer was dominated by conduction for tilt angle less than 45o, which increase the front temperature of PV/PCM system. However, the convection dominates in the other system, where the cold liquid PCM flow absorbs more heat, which decreases the PV cells temperature.