Experimental study of integrated photovoltaic thermal management system with coupled phase change and water cooling

In order to improve the thermal management performance of photovoltaic modules, extend the thermal management time and realize the full utilization of photovoltaic waste heat. In this study, an integrated PV thermal management system with coupled phase change and water cooling and heat dissipation was established. Using electric heating to simulate photovoltaic heat flow, the enhancement effects of phase change cooling and phase change air cooling in thermal management were studied and the existing problems were analyzed. The results show that phase change cooling can reduce the hot surface temperature, but the introduction of copper foam would shorten the thermal management time. Phase change and air cooling can improve thermal management time but is seriously affected by ambient temperature changes, and photovoltaic waste heat will be wasted. On this basis, the effect of phase change and water cooling system on PV thermal management is studied and the waste heat is fully utilized. The results show that the effective thermal management time reaches 3550 s when the water level of the water tank is 7 mm and the ambient temperature is 30_o C, which can satisfy the effective thermal management under 1 h high intensity light and the greater the water quantity, the longer the thermal management time.