PCM-in-PV - PV cells with modified optical and thermal properties for high-efficiency electrical applications

Solar energy technology is one of the favourable alternatives in providing electricity for houses and low-speed vehicles. Due to the elevated environment temperature cause by global warming, the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) cells has decrease tremendously. The aim of this project is to develop a novel PV cell with impregnated phase-change material (PCM), which has the capability of absorbing heat radiated and generated into the cell as the form of latent heat, while maximising the conversion efficiency of a multi-crystalline Si cell with improved thermal and optical properties which converts electricity at low cell temperature. The impregnated PCM acts as an absorber that takes in heat from both the radiation from the Sun and generated from energy conversion. The heat absorbed are stored within the PCM through melting process, i.e. the heat is stored as the latent heat of fusion for the PCM. The transition of phase from PCM provides different thermal and optical properties for the cells, taking in the abundance of heat and light energy from the Sun and transform them into useful energy. The PCM-in-PV project covers a wide range of discipline, such as materials engineering, chemistry, physics, energy, mechanical and chemical engineering.