Numerical study of thermal management and performance enhancement of finned solar cells by phase change materials

The unfavorable heat generation in photovoltaic (PV) panels results in an increased average temperature of PV, followed by decreased electrical performance of the entire system. One can reduce the average temperature of the photovoltaic panel using a phase change material (PCM) at its back which improves the electrical efficiency of the photovoltaic panel. Nonetheless, the low thermal conductivity of the phase change material leads to its poor cooling efficiency. The application of fins can enhance heat transfer through PCM. This investigation conducts a numerical estimation of the geometrical improvement of fins in a phase change material integrated PV system featuring interior fins. The contribution of geometrical characteristics, such as type, fin length, shape, and also disposition angle, to the efficiency of the PCM amalgamated PV module has been investigated. In addition, when the fin length is increased from 0 to 20mm, the efficiency and operating temperature of the photovoltaic panel improved by 3.5% and 2.7%, respectively. To investigate the impact of shape of the fin on its cooling performance, five different fin shapes have been considered. The results show that triple-branched fins exhibited 1.2% and 1.5% augmentation in the mean working temperature of the PV module and performance of the system, respectively, when compared to the traditional rectangular fins. Moreover, comparative results indicate that compared to the conventional rectangular PCM encapsulation, in case of employing non-rectangular PCM encapsulations with higher top to bottom ratio higher cooling performance and melting rate of PCM is achieved.