Investigating the effect of nano-enhanced phase change material on thermal management of photovoltaic modules

Photovoltaic (PV) energy systems provide a sustainable route for reducing carbon emissions and dependence on fossil fuels; however, their electrical performance is strongly limited by temperature rise under high solar irradiance. Passive cooling using phase change materials (PCMs) and nano-enhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) offers a low-energy thermal-management strategy for maintaining lower PV operating temperatures. This study experimentally and numerically evaluated three PV module configurations: an uncooled reference module (Module 1), a paraffin PCM-integrated module (Module 2), and 2 wt.% Fe 2 O 3 -paraffin NePCM-integrated module (Module 3). The NePCM was prepared by dispersing Fe 2 O 3 nanoparticles into paraffin wax using a two-step method involving magnetic stirring and ultrasonication. Outdoor experiments were performed under identical conditions, while an ANSYS Fluent transient numerical model was developed to analyse the thermal response of PV cell configurations. At peak solar irradiance of 1180 W m -2 , temperatures of Modules 1, Module 2, and Module 3 were 70.4 °C, 62.7 °C, and 59.2 °C, respectively. Thus, PCM and NePCM reduced module temperature by 7.7 °C and 11.2 °C, respectively, relative to the uncooled module. Module 3 also produced the highest open-circuit voltage of approximately 20.95 V, maximum power output of 8.68 W, and electrical efficiency of 12.04%, compared with 7.05 W and 9.78% for the reference module. This corresponds to 23.1% improvement in power output and an absolute efficiency gain of 2.26 percentage points. Numerical results supported the experimental trend, and average PV temperature decreased from 79 °C in the reference cell to 66 °C with PCM and 55 °C with NePCM after 90 min of simulation. Overall, results demonstrated that 2 wt.% Fe 2 O 3 -paraffin NePCM provides superior passive thermal regulation compared with pure paraffin PCM and improves PV electrical performance without external power consumption.