Experimental Investigation of Heat Exchanger-enhanced Solar Cell Performance 2023-01-5175

The efficiency of a solar panel depends on the amount of solar radiation it receives and its surface temperature. However, during the conversion process, some of the solar radiation is converted into heat, which can increase the temperature of the solar panel’s junction, reducing its performance. This decrease in efficiency can be attributed to the decrease in output efficiency that occurs when the surface temperature of the solar panel increases. Therefore, maintaining a suitable temperature range is crucial to improving the efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) panel. Various cooling methods, including the use of phase change materials (PCM), have been developed to control the temperature of the PV module.

To test the effectiveness of PCM in cooling the solar PV module, we conducted an experiment that involved setting up a heat exchanger system and analyzing its performance. Our analysis revealed a significant improvement of 1.01 % decrement in the temperature of solar cell and the efficiency and power of the solar cell increased by 2% in the output efficiency of the PV system, indicating that PCM cooling can be an effective means of maintaining a suitable temperature range for the PV panel and improving its overall efficiency.