A new heat sink for cooling photovoltaic systems using fins filled with multiple PCMs

The electrical efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cells is significantly influenced by their operating temperature. Cooling is essential to enhance the PV cell performance, as rising temperatures reduce their power generation capacity. In this study, the PV cell is coupled with a proposed fin design, which acts as a heat sink and incorporates multiple phase change materials (PCMs), specifically RT-35 and RT-27, of varying thicknesses. The conventional case (PCM enclosure located at the rear of the PV cell) and the proposed fin design are compared, ensuring both have the same PCM volume. Consequently, the dimensions of the fins (width and length) are adjusted based on their number (5, 6, and 7 fins). The numerical model demonstrated excellent agreement with data from the literature. Numerical simulations were conducted at different tilt angles (30 degrees, 60 degrees, and 90 degrees) to evaluate the PV cell's temperature, electrical efficiency, and thermal management period, with the proposed fins. Among all the proposed configurations, the 6 fins arrangement (RT-35: 10 mm, RT-27: 30 mm) delivers the best performance. Compared to the smooth case, the proposed design reduces the PV cell temperature by 27.9 %, 29.54%, and 31.11 % at tilt angles of 90 degrees, 60 degrees, and 30 degrees, respectively, over the thermal management period. The electrical efficiency achieved with the proposed design is approximately 17.22 %, 17.39 %, and 17.41 % at tilt angles of 90 degrees, 60 degrees, and 30 degrees, respectively. In contrast, the conventional case with RT-35 achieves efficiencies of 16.17%, 16.32%, and 15.24% under the same conditions. Future modeling of PV-PCM systems is recommended to adopt the proposed design for further optimization and application.