A photovoltaic panel coupled with a Phase Changing Material heat storage system in hot climates

Nowadays, there is a great impulse in the field of photovoltaic cell systems (PV) to develop new devices with better energy conversion performances and higher cost effectiveness. This paper is focused on the design and development of a modified PV system, consisting of a normal PV panel coupled with a Phase Change Material (PCM). PCMs are "latent" energy storage materials, using chemical bonds to store and release heat. The system is based on the idea that decreasing the operating temperature of the panel causes an increase in its energy conversion efficiency. A theoretical analysis of the system was accomplished by using COMSOL MULTIPHYSICS, a partial differential equations (PDEs) solver. …