IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i12p3550-d575030.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Performance Improvement of a CPV System: Experimental Investigation into Passive Cooling with Phase Change Materials

Author

Listed:
  • Shivangi Sharma

    (Birmingham Centre for Energy Storage, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
    Environmental and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK)

  • Nazmi Sellami

    (School of Engineering, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen AB10 7GJ, UK)

  • Asif A. Tahir

    (Environmental and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK)

  • Tapas K. Mallick

    (Environmental and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn TR10 9FE, UK)

  • Rohit Bhakar

    (Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur 302017, India)

Abstract

High temperature and overheating of photovoltaic panels lead to efficiency losses and eventual degradation. For solar PV systems, this is a significant impediment for achieving economic viability. In this study, a novel Window-Integrated Concentrated Photovoltaic (WICPV) system is proposed for window integration. This offers high (50%) transparency and is fabricated and characterised indoors at an irradiance of 1000 Wm −2 . Its electrical performance is tested (a) without applied cooling (i.e., under natural ventilation) and (b) with a heat sink to accommodate passive cooling media. The results are compared to study the effects of reduction in operating temperature on system performances. The effectiveness of a sensible cooling medium (water) and two latent heat removal media, phase change materials (or PCMs, RT50 and RT28HC), is investigated. This paper reports the passive temperature regulation of this WICPV at ambient testing conditions. The results demonstrate an increase in electrical power output by (i) 17% (RT28HC), (ii) 19% (RT50), and (iii) 25 % (circulating water) compared with the naturally ventilated system. This shows that PCMs are considerably useful for thermal regulation of the WICPV. Any improvement in efficiencies will be beneficial for increasing electrical energy generation and reducing peak energy demands.

Suggested Citation

  • Shivangi Sharma & Nazmi Sellami & Asif A. Tahir & Tapas K. Mallick & Rohit Bhakar, 2021. "Performance Improvement of a CPV System: Experimental Investigation into Passive Cooling with Phase Change Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-13, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:12:p:3550-:d:575030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3550/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/12/3550/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alonso García, M.C. & Balenzategui, J.L., 2004. "Estimation of photovoltaic module yearly temperature and performance based on Nominal Operation Cell Temperature calculations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 1997-2010.
    2. Lu, W. & Tassou, S.A., 2012. "Experimental study of the thermal characteristics of phase change slurries for active cooling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 366-374.
    3. Al- Sabounchi, A.M., 1998. "Effect of ambient temperature on the demanded energy of solar cells at different inclinations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 149-155.
    4. Yuli Setyo Indartono & Aryadi Suwono & Fendy Yuseva Pratama, 2016. "Improving photovoltaics performance by using yellow petroleum jelly as phase change material," International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(3), pages 333-337.
    5. Sargunanathan, S. & Elango, A. & Mohideen, S. Tharves, 2016. "Performance enhancement of solar photovoltaic cells using effective cooling methods: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 382-393.
    6. Du, Bin & Hu, Eric & Kolhe, Mohan, 2012. "Performance analysis of water cooled concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(9), pages 6732-6736.
    7. Teo, H.G. & Lee, P.S. & Hawlader, M.N.A., 2012. "An active cooling system for photovoltaic modules," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 309-315.
    8. Ma, Tao & Yang, Hongxing & Zhang, Yinping & Lu, Lin & Wang, Xin, 2015. "Using phase change materials in photovoltaic systems for thermal regulation and electrical efficiency improvement: A review and outlook," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1273-1284.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Zhenpeng & Ma, Tao & Zhao, Jiaxin & Song, Aotian & Cheng, Yuanda, 2019. "Experimental study and performance analysis on solar photovoltaic panel integrated with phase change material," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 471-486.
    2. Saxena, Ashish & Deshmukh, Sandip & Nirali, Somanath & Wani, Saurabh, 2018. "Laboratory based Experimental Investigation of Photovoltaic (PV) Thermo-control with Water and its Proposed Real-time Implementation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 128-138.
    3. Hasan, Ahmed & Sarwar, Jawad & Shah, Ali Hasan, 2018. "Concentrated photovoltaic: A review of thermal aspects, challenges and opportunities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 835-852.
    4. Sathe, Tushar M. & Dhoble, A.S., 2017. "A review on recent advancements in photovoltaic thermal techniques," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 645-672.
    5. Piero Bevilacqua & Stefania Perrella & Daniela Cirone & Roberto Bruno & Natale Arcuri, 2021. "Efficiency Improvement of Photovoltaic Modules via Back Surface Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Hernandez-Perez, J.G. & Carrillo, J.G. & Bassam, A. & Flota-Banuelos, M. & Patino-Lopez, L.D., 2020. "A new passive PV heatsink design to reduce efficiency losses: A computational and experimental evaluation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P1), pages 1209-1220.
    7. Kane, Aarti & Verma, Vishal & Singh, Bhim, 2017. "Optimization of thermoelectric cooling technology for an active cooling of photovoltaic panel," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 1295-1305.
    8. Gilmore, Nicholas & Timchenko, Victoria & Menictas, Chris, 2018. "Microchannel cooling of concentrator photovoltaics: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 1041-1059.
    9. Alami, Abdul Hai, 2016. "Synthetic clay as an alternative backing material for passive temperature control of photovoltaic cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 195-200.
    10. Karthick, A. & Murugavel, K. Kalidasa & Ramanan, P., 2018. "Performance enhancement of a building-integrated photovoltaic module using phase change material," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 803-812.
    11. Alberto Benato & Anna Stoppato, 2019. "An Experimental Investigation of a Novel Low-Cost Photovoltaic Panel Active Cooling System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Michael, Jee Joe & S, Iniyan & Goic, Ranko, 2015. "Flat plate solar photovoltaic–thermal (PV/T) systems: A reference guide," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 62-88.
    13. Sato, Daisuke & Yamada, Noboru, 2019. "Review of photovoltaic module cooling methods and performance evaluation of the radiative cooling method," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 151-166.
    14. Elbreki, A.M. & Alghoul, M.A. & Sopian, K. & Hussein, T., 2017. "Towards adopting passive heat dissipation approaches for temperature regulation of PV module as a sustainable solution," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 961-1017.
    15. Bai, Attila & Popp, József & Balogh, Péter & Gabnai, Zoltán & Pályi, Béla & Farkas, István & Pintér, Gábor & Zsiborács, Henrik, 2016. "Technical and economic effects of cooling of monocrystalline photovoltaic modules under Hungarian conditions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1086-1099.
    16. Manxuan Xiao & Llewellyn Tang & Xingxing Zhang & Isaac Yu Fat Lun & Yanping Yuan, 2018. "A Review on Recent Development of Cooling Technologies for Concentrated Photovoltaics (CPV) Systems," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-39, December.
    17. Antonio D’Angola & Diana Enescu & Marianna Mecca & Alessandro Ciocia & Paolo Di Leo & Giovanni Vincenzo Fracastoro & Filippo Spertino, 2020. "Theoretical and Numerical Study of a Photovoltaic System with Active Fluid Cooling by a Fully-Coupled 3D Thermal and Electric Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-17, February.
    18. Luo, Zhenyu & Zhu, Na & Hu, Pingfang & Lei, Fei & Zhang, Yaxi, 2022. "Simulation study on performance of PV-PCM-TE system for year-round analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 263-273.
    19. Jia, Yuting & Alva, Guruprasad & Fang, Guiyin, 2019. "Development and applications of photovoltaic–thermal systems: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 249-265.
    20. Choubineh, Negin & Jannesari, Hamid & Kasaeian, Alibakhsh, 2019. "Experimental study of the effect of using phase change materials on the performance of an air-cooled photovoltaic system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 103-111.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:12:p:3550-:d:575030. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.