PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT OF PHOTO-VOLTAIC PANEL

Abstract

A photo-voltaic cell is a device used for the generation of electricity from sun light. The sunlight comprising of both photon energy and thermal energy. The PV cell utilizes only the photon energy to generate electricity. The radiation energy has other effects. It is absorbed by cell. Due to this absorbed radiation the temperature of the cell rises. This elevated temperature affects the conversion efficiency of cell and thus power output is reduced. Though there are other factors like dust, shadow effect, the elevated temperature is of most important factor. High solar cell temperature has always been a major concern as the exceeding operational cell temperature will result in shorter cell life and can also cause permanent cell damage. For this matter both active and passive cooling methods are being used to limit the temperature rise. Passive cooling methods though being less effective are simpler and reliable than active cooling methods. In this study a passive heat sink has been designed using a phase change material (PCM) to improve upon the efficiency of a solar panel. The ability of PCMs to store and release large amounts of heat energy in response to a small temperature change has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. The phase change material used in this research is Paraffin Wax, which is an organic based PCM.