Numerical Investigation of the Thermal Management Performance of MEPCM Modules for PV Applications

Energies

Abednego Oscar Tanuwijava¹  Ching Jenq Ho¹  Chi-Ming Lai² 

[1] Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan; E-Mails:;Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan

关键词: microencapsulated phase change material (MEPCM);    thermal performance;    photovoltaic (PV);    computational fluid dynamics (CFD);   

DOI  :  10.3390/en6083922

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

The efficiency of photovoltaic modules decreases as the cell temperature increases. It is necessary to have an adequate thermal management mechanism for a photovoltaic module, especially when combined with a building construction system. This study aims to investigate via computational fluid dynamics simulations the heat transfer characteristics and thermal management performance of microencapsulated phase change material modules for photovoltaic applications under temporal variations of daily solar irradiation. The results show that the aspect ratio of the microencapsulated phase change material layer has significant effects on the heat transfer characteristics and the overall thermal performance of the two cases examined with different melting points (26 °C and 34 °C) are approximately the same.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.