Design Optimization of Fin Angles for Enhanced Cooling and Efficiency in Solar Panels Using Phase Change Materials

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current work investigates approaches to augment photovoltaic (PV) panels through phase change material (PCM) systems' efficiency, with the addition of aluminum fins and varying angles of inclination. A two‐dimensional numerical simulation using the enthalpy–porosity method was conducted in ANSYS Fluent for modeling PCM melting behavior. This research studied five cases of PCMs (for the same fin area and size) at five angles of inclination (30°, 60°, 90°, 120°, and 150°). The results show good agreement with literature values. PV tilt angle's influence on heat dissipation for conduction and natural convection ratio in PCM is significant. Case 3 configuration (90° inclination) exhibits the best performance of all configurations: lowest PV temperature (318.2 K), highest electrical efficiency (11.83%), maximum thermal efficiency (46.7%), maximum melting fraction transport (0.47), and maximum overall efficiency (58.61%). Case 3 exhibits a temperature improvement of 3.36 K in comparison to the worst‐performing setup at 150° (Case 5) values with increases of 1.72% in electrical efficiency, 23.2% in thermal efficiency, 34.3% in melting fraction, and an 18.8% improvement in overall efficiency. Past studies have looked at the geometry of the fins, while this current study looks at the orientation of the fins. The study confirms that the 90° fin angle (which is least obstructive to vertical thermal transfer) is ideal to optimize the PV‐PCM systems' efficiency under the current boundary conditions.