Multi-objective and multi-parameter optimization study of thermal management performance of photovoltaic/phase-change cooling system

Photovoltaic (PV) cell performance degrades significantly with increasing temperature. To mitigate such thermal-induced performance loss, this study conducts multi-parameter optimization for PV/phase change material (PCM) cooling systems. Using computational fluid dynamics simulations coupled with response surface methodology, the effects of fin geometries (rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular) and structural parameters (height, width, number) on the temperature evolution of PV modules are systematically analyzed, along with the coupling interactions between key design variables. Results show that triangular fins exhibit superior thermal management performance due to enhanced natural convection of PCM and delayed melting rate. Response surface optimization based on central composite design reveals the significance order of parameters: for thermal management duration, number of fins > fin width > fin height and for temperature control capability, number of fins > fin height > fin width. The optimal conditions are determined as fin height = 3.499 mm, width = 0.985 mm, and number = 4 (rounded from 4.086), yielding a thermal management duration of 71.327 min and a temperature control capability of 0.373 K−1. Compared to the original design, the temperature control capability is improved by 12.69%, validating the effectiveness of the proposed optimization framework.