{"title":"Annual performance and techno-economic assessment of PCM-based thermal management in photovoltaic systems","authors":"Kedumese u Mekrisuh, P.M.V. Subbarao","doi":"10.1016/j.est.2025.118520","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This work presents a systematic annual performance evaluation of the phase change material (PCM) integrated in a photovoltaic (PV) module. A numerical model, validated against experimental data, was implemented with monthly-hourly average meteorological data, solar irradiance, ambient temperature, and wind speed, to conduct a comprehensive annual performance study. Strategic thermal management designs were developed to mitigate peak heat load during the hottest months and identify potential drawbacks in cooler months. Design criteria for PCM-based thermal management were articulated, encompassing PCM thermophysical property selection and geometries to ensure effective integration with the PV module. A temperature reduction of up to 11.3 °C emphasised the effectiveness of PCM integration in stabilising module temperature and increasing conversion efficiency. Results also indicated that increasing the PCM mass enhanced conversion efficiency for a fixed collector area, with the PCM-integrated PV module achieving an efficiency gain of 6.09 % relative to the simple PV module. A techno-economic analysis showed that integrating PCM raised capital costs (extending payback by factors of 4.8 to 231). However, it also produced annual energy-yield gains and reduced temperature-induced degradation, which supports the development of low-cost PCM composites and optimised thermal designs for scalable deployment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":15942,"journal":{"name":"Journal of energy storage","volume":"138 ","pages":"Article 118520"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of energy storage","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352152X25032335","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This work presents a systematic annual performance evaluation of the phase change material (PCM) integrated in a photovoltaic (PV) module. A numerical model, validated against experimental data, was implemented with monthly-hourly average meteorological data, solar irradiance, ambient temperature, and wind speed, to conduct a comprehensive annual performance study. Strategic thermal management designs were developed to mitigate peak heat load during the hottest months and identify potential drawbacks in cooler months. Design criteria for PCM-based thermal management were articulated, encompassing PCM thermophysical property selection and geometries to ensure effective integration with the PV module. A temperature reduction of up to 11.3 °C emphasised the effectiveness of PCM integration in stabilising module temperature and increasing conversion efficiency. Results also indicated that increasing the PCM mass enhanced conversion efficiency for a fixed collector area, with the PCM-integrated PV module achieving an efficiency gain of 6.09 % relative to the simple PV module. A techno-economic analysis showed that integrating PCM raised capital costs (extending payback by factors of 4.8 to 231). However, it also produced annual energy-yield gains and reduced temperature-induced degradation, which supports the development of low-cost PCM composites and optimised thermal designs for scalable deployment.
期刊介绍:
Journal of energy storage focusses on all aspects of energy storage, in particular systems integration, electric grid integration, modelling and analysis, novel energy storage technologies, sizing and management strategies, business models for operation of storage systems and energy storage developments worldwide.