Investigation of Inorganic Phase Change Material for a Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic (STPV) Module

Alagar Karthick, Muthu Manokar Athikesavan, Manoj Kumar Pasupathi, Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar, Shauhrat S. Chopra and Aritra Ghosh
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Alagar Karthick: Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Arasur, Coimbatore 641407, Tamil Nadu, India
Muthu Manokar Athikesavan: Department of Mechanical Engineering, B.S. Abdur Rahman Crescent Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai 600048, Tamil Nadu, India
Manoj Kumar Pasupathi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, Arasur, Coimbatore 641407, Tamil Nadu, India
Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar: School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Shauhrat S. Chopra: School of Energy and Environment, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Aritra Ghosh: Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UK

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-12

Abstract: The semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) module is an emerging technology to harness the solar energy in the building. Nowadays, buildings are turning from energy consumers to energy producers due to the integration of the STPV module on the building envelopes and facades. In this research, the STPV module was integrated on the rooftop window of the experimental room at Kovilpatti (9°10′0″ N, 77°52′0″ E), Tamil Nadu, India. The performance of the STPV modules varies with respect to the geographical location, incident solar radiation, and surface temperature of the module. The surface temperature of the STPV module was regulated by the introduction of the mixture of graphene oxide and sodium sulphate decahydrate (Na 2 SO 4 ·10H 2 O). The various concentration of the graphene oxide was mixed together with the Na 2 SO 4 ·10H 2 O to enhance the thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of the mixture 0.3 concentration was found to be optimum from the analysis. The instantaneous peak temperature of the semi-transparent photovoltaic phase change material (STPV-PCM) module was reduced to 9 °C during summer compared to the reference STPV. At the same time, the energy conversion efficiency was increased by up to 9.4% compared to the conventional STPV module. Due to the incorporation of the graphene oxide and Na 2 SO 4 ·10H 2 O, the daily output power production of the STPV module was improved by 12.16%.

Keywords: solar Photovoltaic (PV) module; building envelopes; solar facades; semi-transparent photovoltaic; inorganic phase change material; Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV); Phase change material (PCM) for solar; graphene oxide; Glauber salt (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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