Study on Performance Enhancement of SPV Panel Incorporating a Nanocomposite PCM as Thermal Regulator

The conversion of solar energy into electricity is becoming popular as the cost of solar electricity is continuously declining due to the government policy decisions in encouraging green electricity. However, the efficiency of the panel is a notable factor which is always lying around 16%. Because of getting direct solar rays, the surface temperature of the PV panel is varying significantly throughout the day which plays a crucial role in their performance. Hence, the proper thermal management of PV panel is required to attain the improved performance of the panel in terms of their efficiency. This present work made an attempt to improve the efficiency of the SPV panel by properly regulating their absorbed thermal energy using a nanocomposite phase change material (NCPCM). NCPCM was obtained by diffusing lower mass % of nano-SiO2 particles within paraffin matrix (1.0% mass). Two PV panels of similar capacity (30 Wp) and configuration have been used during the experimentation. The first panel, without any modification, was named as SPV 1, and the second panel was named as SPV 2 which has been integrated with the NCPCM for thermal energy regulation. Both the PV panels were investigated during the clear solar days between 7.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. The results showed that the incorporation of NCPCM significantly reduced the panel surface temperature and improved electrical efficiency.