Performance of Bi-fluid PV/thermal collector integrated with phase change material: Experimental assessment

Abstract

The main disadvantage of photovoltaic panels is their low efficiency at high temperatures which engages the researchers to cool the solar panels and store the excess heat for use in times of need. One of the techniques used is the storage of excess heat from photovoltaic panels using phase change materials. This study investigates the performance of a bi-fluid PV/thermal collector integrated with paraffin wax, air and water were used to cool the photovoltaic panels.Two systems were built to achieve this purpose: the first system is cooled using air and water, and the second system is similar to the first model with a phase change material behind the photovoltaic panel. Study results reveal that the photovoltaic panel temperature in the system containing a phase change substance is significantly lower than the temperature of the photovoltaic panel in the second system. Furthermore, the results showed that using the phase change material improves electricity production in all operating conditions and increases the overall system efficiency. For all cooling conditions, the system's total efficiency which using two coolants with and without phase change material were 80.29% and 59.01%, respectively. Moreover, the results proved that the use of the phase change material led to a significant increase in the system's electrical efficiency. The design with a phase change material had an electrical efficiency of about 11.06%. In contrast, the system without a phase change material had an electrical efficiency of about 9.96%.