Blended Ester oil‐based phase change material cooling for enhanced solar photovoltaic performance: Experimental investigation and particle swarm optimization

Abstract In the current era, there has been an increasing trend in various factors. This includes an increase in population and their demands, resources utilization, depletion and pollution. However, the availability of resources is continuously decreasing. Therefore, researchers are increasingly interested in maximizing the utilization of renewable sources. One such source that gives much hope is the solar energy that is obtained by converting the electromagnetic spectrum of 380–750 nm into electricity. A portion of incident solar energy is wasted as heat. Optimisation of solar PV technology requires a reduction in heat generation to increase efficiency. Heat reduction is achieved by using coolants. Existing studies have focused on using inorganic or single organic phase change material (PCM) to decrease panel temperature. The proposed work aims to reduce heat generation by using blended oil esters (with high viscosity and high oxidation stability) as a coolant medium. Base oil and blend oil are taken in proportions 75%–25%, 50%–50% and 25%–75%. These blended oils are used as coolant in three panels and the results are analyzed. The blended oil Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) methodology is assisted to optimize the operating conditions and increase the efficiency. Blended oil ester acts as phase change material (PCM) that works as a coolant, flows from the storage tank to the backside of the solar PV panel and is collected in the collector tank. The oil absorbs heat, thereby reducing the panel's temperature. A polycrystalline panel is taken into consideration and the input parameters are Capacity (V), Time (T) and Temperature (H) and the output parameter is Power (P). The proposed work obtains an increase in efficiency of 22.02% in polycrystalline cooling system using blended oil (75% CAO + 25% PO) as a coolant and a reduction in temperature of 5.87%.