Onsite enhancement of REEEC solar photovoltaic performance through PCM cooling technique

The efficiency of solar panels decreases as the temperature increases and heat dissipation becomes a serious problem in hot environments such as the Arabian desert. This paper investigates the use of a phase change material (PCM-OM37P) to maintain panel temperatures close to ambient. The enhancement of the GCL-P6/60265W solar panel efficiency was demonstrated at the University of Tabuk Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Center (REEEC). As these solar panel arrays are remotely monitored, we were able to demonstrate the validity of our cooling solution. During peak times, a drop voltage of at least 0.6V has been realized using the PCM for cooling the PV panel. This corresponds to a cooling temperature of 5 to 6 degrees C. This difference in operating voltages between the PCM-cooled and the reference PV panels translates into a power enhancement percentage (PEP) of about 3%. The PEP value was underestimated due to the PV string configuration where the operating electrical current is taken as the average value for both PV panels.