Experimental Investigation of PV/T Collectors with Phase Change Material

In the current work we evaluate the experimental operation of two different types of photovoltaic-thermal collectors (PV/T) and their performance after adding a layer of phase change material (PCM) within the panel. Each PV/T collector selected has a heat absorber unit different in material and geometry and was tested under four different configurations: unglazed, unglazed with PCM, glazed and glazed with PCM. Results show a slightly variation in the electrical generation but a great difference in the thermal performance between glazed and unglazed configuration. The addition of PCM results in a better distribution of the heat production, generating up to 30% of maximum thermal values after removing sun exposure. No significant differences are found between heat absorber units for similar configurations.