Assessment of fin configuration effect on the performance of photovoltaic thermal systems with trapezoidal tubes and phase change material

Abstract

Solar energy faces efficiency challenges that various techniques can mitigate. Several studies have applied phase change material (PCM) to enhance Photovoltaic (PV) systems, but its low thermal conductivity limits cooling effectiveness. This study enhances PV performance by integrating PCM with fins and a trapezoidal inner tube. The research optimizes fin height and location to improve performance. The impact of fin heights (3 mm, 6 mm, 9 mm) and locations (L1, L2, L3) is assessed, emphasizing their positioning relative to the trapezoidal tube. Copper fins are utilized for their superior thermal conductivity, while RT35 PCM is selected to align with the actual environmental temperature range in Egypt location. Numerical simulations in ANSYS 2022 R1 are validated with experimental data. Results show that fins significantly enhance efficiencies, regardless their height or location. A 9 mm fin achieves 15.982% electrical efficiency at L3 and 82.088% thermal efficiency at L2. On the other hand, the merit function, which is the ratio of the system’s total output (thermal and electrical) to the electrical output of a conventional PV module, with a weighting factor for electricity value, peaks at 2.829 for a 9 mm fin at L2. For the finless case, the merit function is 2.473.