An experimental study on the performance of PCM-based heat sink with air for thermal regulation of PVs

In this study, a novel parametric investigation was conducted to enhance the performance of conventional PCMbased heat sinks utilized for thermal regulation in PV panels. The proposed heat sinks in this study aimed to address some issues reported in the literature by offering prolonged thermal regulation periods, reduced PV temperatures, and accelerated discharge rates through utilization of ambient air and PCM for passive heat dissipation. These enhancements were achieved by integrating several open ended pipes into the PCM layer, enabling passive removal of a portion of stored heat in the PCM by ambient air. The investigation comprised five study cases: Case 1 (reference PV), Case 2 (conventional-PV-PCM), and the proposed heat sinks: Case 3 (6-pipedPV-PCM), Case 4 (10-piped-PV-PCM), and Case 5 (14-piped-PV-PCM). In the study, the enhancements in thermal regulation periods, PV temperatures, power outputs and discharge rates were experimentally investigated for each case. Experiments were conducted in a laboratory setting under constant irradiation of 1000 W/m2, ambient temperature of 25 degrees C, and three tilt angles (30 degrees-45 degrees-90 degrees). The results indicated that integration of open-ended pipes within the PCM layer showed promise in passive heat removal from the PCM and led to remarkable enhancements in thermal and electrical performance. Experiments for 7-hour irradiation period demonstrated that proposed heat sinks passively extended the thermal regulation period by 45%, reduced the maximum PV temperature by 11 degrees C, shortened the solidification times by 36.5 %, and enhanced the total electrical output by 4.37 %.