Water and phase change material based photovoltaic thermal management systems: A review

Photovoltaic panels are semiconductor materials having electrical efficiency in between 4% and 46% depending upon its material. About 50% of total solar radiation absorb by photovoltaic panel convert into heat causing high operating temperature of photovoltaic panel (PV) results to drop in its electrical performance and permanent structural damages called thermal degradation if a thermal stress remains in PV panel for long. So cooling of photovoltaic panel is very essential for better performance and long life of photovoltaic module. Many researchers have investigated performance of photovoltaic module by using different cooling arrangements having different thermal absorber design, different coolants and different phase change materials (PCMs). Detailed review of various methods related to water based photovoltaic/thermal system (PV/T) and photovoltaic panel with phase change material (PV-PCM) system has been discussed and reported in this paper. This review paper can help to find new cooling arrangements, different thermal absorber design and different phase change materials for improving performance of photovoltaic/thermal system. It has been observed from the literature that photovoltaic panel with phase change material (PV-PCM) is proficient solution for cooling of photovoltaic panel. But problems associated with phase change material are its low thermal conductivity and nocturnal solidification which affect its readiness and thermal drop performance for same day and next day therefore, performance of photovoltaic panel with phase change material (PV-PCM) system can be enhanced by inserting heat transfer elements within PCM and extracting heat from PCM to regulate temperature of phase change material to maintain its heating storage capacity. Extracted heat from PCM can be use for space heating or water heating applications.