Enhancing PV module performance through a novel fin heat sink design: A numerical and experimental study

This study conducts numerical and experimental analyses to enhance PV module performance using a novel fin heat sink design. A novel multi-stage interdigitated crimped truncated fin (MSICTF) was developed and attached to a 40 W monocrystalline PV panel. A parametric study was conducted on nine configurations (A1–C3) of aluminium fins, varying in number, height, thickness, and slope angle. The configurations included two rows of short fins and long fins with different numbers of fins; different heights of the short fins (70–150 mm); heights of long fins (120–200 mm); different fin thickness (1–2 mm); different slope-degree angles (30°–60°); and a truncation of 15 mm. The results indicate that the C3 configuration had the optimum geometry, with 15 short fins (150 mm), 16 long fins (200 mm), a thickness of 2 mm each, and a slope angle of 40° for each fin. The best design reduced surface temperature by 36.8 % and increased electrical output efficiency by 16.75 % when compared to a bare PV. The indoor experiment results validated the obtained data with less than 1 % variation, exhibiting negligible changes. The findings demonstrate that the proposed MSICTF design enhances heat dissipation and PV performance for hot climates.