Importance of Nano – PCM Integrated Fin in Cooling of Solar Photovoltaic Panel: A Review

Abstract

The performance of solar panels depends on the 3 factors: the intensity of the radiation flux, the standard of the semiconductor in use, and also the operative temperature of the semiconductor cell. Temperature has a huge impact on the Power Generation of PV module. The PV module converts only 20% of the solar energy into electric energy, and the rest of the energy is converted to heat and the PV module is increased in temperature. As the temperature of the PV module increases, its total efficiency decreases. Two methods are used for cooling PV panel, one is active cooling and the other is passive cooling. Active cooling requires extra energy from the outside (pump, fan, etc.,) and vice versa does not seem to require passive cooling (air, PCM.). A special kind of passive conductive cooling is PCM cooling. Hence, the applying of phase change materials (PCM) may be a more robust answer for this purpose; as a result of phase change materials have a high heat of fusion. The thermal conductivity of PCM is low and therefore when PCM is used to cool the PV panel, it affects the performance of the PV panel. Therefore, NANO particles can be used to fill for the PCM which has low thermal conductivity.