Study on the incorporation of phase change material and differently embedded water circulation pipes for enhanced thermal management of photovoltaic system

Abstract This research presents an experimental investigation on the thermal management and improvement of electrical efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) systems employing a phase change material (PCM) and water combination technique as heat dissipation systems through an improved design. This experiment was conducted in the semi-arid environment of Aligarh, India. The experiment utilised an aluminium enclosure that housed PCM with a melting point of 30 °C (OM 30), along with integrated water circulation pipes. The study involved the evaluation and comparison of three types of PV systems: a PV system with an empty casing attached to the rear surface, a PV system with a casing filled with PCM, and a PV system with a casing filled with a combination of PCM and water circulated using embedded serpentine pipes (without making contact with the casing walls). The water flow rates used in the study were 0.0027 kg/s and 0.0034 kg/s. Power generation, exergy analysis, power efficiency, and performance metrics, specifically the power increase performance variable of the system were compared. The average increases in electrical efficiency, power output, power enhancement, and maximum average temperature reduction, were found to be 13.75%, 24.14 W, 27.6%, and 5.6 °C, respectively at water flowrate of 0.0034 kg/s (best case). The findings of the study indicate that the improvement in the design concept of the PCM and water combination system results in superior performance of the PV panel compared to other approaches.