USING OF PCM IN SOLAR PANELS
A PCM with an easily adjustable melting point would be a necessity as the melting point is the most important criterion for selecting a PCM for passive solar applications (Farid et al. 2004).
Significance to the Study 💡
This is significant to our research study since the criteria will be the basis for selecting the right PCM material to be attached in the siolar panels
PCM Materials that were mostly investigated were paraffins and fatty acids. Paraffins were mostly used as a PCM material because they have a high latent heat of fusion which gives them high heat capacities (Fortuniak et al. 2013).
Significance to the Study 💡
Since paraffin and fatty acids were both organic Phase Change Materials, we will check if the material has the same chemical composition and high latent heat of fusion of paraffin waxes and also check the presence of fatty acids
Coconut oil was used as a potential PCM material by checking its thermophysical parameters [Silalahi et al. 2017]
Significance to the Study 💡
Since there are researches regarding the use of coconut oil as a PCM material which also concluded that it consists of many kinds of fatty acids has
rather broad working temperature range so that it is potential as the sensible and latent TES
Fatty acid used as phase change material
Ideal PCM for cooling PV panel must have large latent heat of fusion, high thermal conductivity, be chemically stable, non-corrosive, non-toxic, melt, temperature lying in the operating temperature of the PV panel and minimum sub cooling.
Longer fatty acid chain imply the higher its melting temperature, which in turn give an implication to its rather broad working temperature range and thermal stability
Significance to the Study 💡
Since it is stated that longer fatty acid chain imply higher melting temperature, the thermal stability of a PCM material was influenced by the polymorphism of the fatty acids: the chemical stability of saturated long-chain carbon structure of the fatty acids accounted for the thermal stability of the fatty acids
Significance to the Study 💡
Since the literature stated the criteria for an ideal PCM for cooling the PV panel, this will be the basis for us to look for a right PCM material that can increase the effciiency of the solar panels
A PCM is a substance which can store and release large amounts of energy, typically in the form of heat
Biwole et al. 2011
They absorb or reject heat in the process. Compared to other methods of temperature regulation, the use of PCM has the added advantage of storing heat energy that can be used asynchronously (Browne et al. 2015).
Organic phase change materials become the research focus because in its phase change
process the parvafacise phenomenon is hard to happen, and it is easy to be overcooled Wang et al. 2011
Thaib et al 2018 developed a SP/PCM system using beeswax and paraffin wax as PCM to SP/PCM systems installed outdoors. They concluded that, when compared to paraffin wax, beeswax was better at lowering the temperature of the panel.
PCM with a melting point of between 28° Celsius and 32° Celsius would be the most efficient in maintaining the temperature on a summer, which is on average, around 29° Celsius.
Significance to the Study 💡
Significance to the Study 💡
Since it is stated that PCM has the added advantage of storing heat energy that can be used asynchronously, our study will be focusing on the PCM materials that will store heat energy to the solar panel to reduce the operating temperature.
Significance to the Study 💡
This literature will help our study in a way that we will find a PCM material that has a melting point around 28° -32° Celsius since according to the study, it is the most efficient maintaining temperature
Significance to the Study 💡
This literature compared the organic PCM which beeswax to paraffin wax. The results were beeswax was better at lowering the temperature of the solar panel. This give us a novel idea to find a organic PCM material
When PCM material melts(solid-liquid phase), it absorbs a large amount of heat from the environment. When a PCM freezes (liquid-solid phase), it releases a large amount of energy in the form of latent heat at a relatively constant temperature.
Biobased PCMs are organic compounds derived from animal fat and plant oils. Their melting temperatures range between -40°C and 151°C. It is derived from fatty acids and have higher efficiency than salt hydrates and petroleum-based phase change material. It has a high latent heat so it is also a better choice to use as a PCM material.
Significance to the Study 💡
Significance to the Study 💡
Since the literature stated that organic PCM is becoming the research focus because it is easy to over-cooled. We will based our PCM selection to this literature by choosing organic pcm since one of the criteria of a good PCM material is it needs to have a minimum sub-cooling
Since it is stated that Biobased PCM have a higher efficiency rather than other PCM materials since it has a high latent heat which is one of the criteria of a good PCM material, we will consider to use Biobased as PCM material to increase the efficiency of the solar panel
This literature stated the mechanisms of PCM material. It is significant to our study in such a way that knowing these mechanisms will help our research study during implementation
Significance to the Study 💡
Since this literature defines PCM, it will help in the concepts about the Phase Change Materials and will be the basis on the series of questions like how much energy can a PCM stored in solar panels to prevent the decreasing of its efficiency
Organic bio-based PCMs that have been known to be significantly less flammable than paraffins so it can be used safely (Arce et al. 2018)
Significance to the Study 💡
This literature will tell us that organic bio-based PCM can be a good substitute to paraffin waxes since it is significantly less flammable to parraffin waxes
Metawee et al. (2012 and 2013) have shown that coconut oil can be used as a PCM material in the solar panels as they check its thermophysical parameters specifically its specific heat and heat of fusion which shows a great potential as a PCM that can be used in solar panels.
Significance to the Study 💡
We can compare our potential bio based PCM to the thermophysical properties of coconut oil before incorporating it into the solar panel
Bio-based PCM has a high latent heat and high enthalpy so it is also a better choice to use as a latent heat storage in solar panels (Shchukina 2018).
Significance to the Study 💡
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Gondora et al. (2016) suggested the use of PCM for it is the best option as it doesn’t emit carbon dioxide as the side effect of the use of cooling system and offers more energy storage capacity and less temperature fluctuation with respect to traditionally used materials due to their having a high latent capacity.
The law of thermodynamics tells that with increased heat comes decreased power output, and this applies to PV cells. Thus, warmer temperatures will always mean less output for PV cells (Dincer and Rosen 2007).