Evaluation of the efficiency of a cooling system using PCM materials for glazed and unglazed PV panels

Currently, the cooling of photovoltaic panels using phase change materials (PCM) gained the interest of many researchers. The temperature of the PV panel can be minimized by using the PCM which absorbs the excess heat from the PV panel as latent heat. The study examines the impact of a cooling system composed of a heat sink with flat fins and a layer of various types of PCM on the temperature of the photovoltaic panel with and without glass layer. The PCM type used are: RT42, RT58, and C22-C45. The 2D numerical simulation is based on the CFD method using the ANSYS Fluent software for solving the conservation equations, and thus the optimization of the temperature distribution and the liquid fraction of the system studied. For results closer to reality, a meteorological file of Oujda city located in the east of Morocco has been developed and added to the Ansys fluent software. The results show that the presence of the glass layer in the photovoltaic system increases the PV cell temperature. Moreover, it decreases with the integration of the cooling system for both glazed and unglazed PV panels. The temperature increases with the presence of the glass layer by 6K, 4K, and 3K respectively for the PCMs; RT42, RT58, and C22-C45.