Heat transfer performance evaluation of a photovoltaic thermal with different fins in the presence of nano-encapsulated phase change materials

Abstract

The sunlight emitted to the surface of a photovoltaic (PV) panel is not completely harvested for electricity and part of it is converted to heat. The heat generated reduces the efficiency of the photovoltaic panel. In this study, we try to transfer heat from the surface of a photovoltaic panel using nano-encapsulated phase change materials (NEPCMs). Also, three different geometries with different numbers of fins on the thermal performance of the photovoltaic panel have been investigated. In this simulation, the finite volume method (FVM) and the SIMPLE algorithm are used. Our results showed that in low Rayleigh numbers where conduction heat transfer is predominant the best way to improve the thermal performance of PVT is to use five fins without melting NEPCM. However, in a high Ra number, the use of NEPCM can improve heat transfer by up to 7 %. Also, in a high Ra number, the use of two and five fins does not have much effect on the thermal performance, although it is better than the no-fin PVT.