Performance augmentation of photovoltaic solar chimneys using asphalt material.

In this study, an experimental model of a photovoltaic (PV) solar chimney (SC) was built and study the extent to which the asphalt material, being a phase‐change material, affects its performance electrical and thermal. Results were taken for the two systems: The photovoltaic solar chimney which contains phase change material (SCPV‐PCM), and the photovoltaic solar chimney which does not contain phase change material (SCPV). The finding demonstrated that the PCM affects the SCPV electrical and thermal performance; the results were as follows: The electrical power for the SCPV‐PCM system increased during the day and its highest value at noon was 384.34 W, and then it began to decrease. The SCPV system had a higher power at the end of the test, 73.24 W, due to the lower temperature of the PV panel. The highest electrical efficiency was for the SCPV‐PCM system at the beginning of the test, reaching the highest value of 13.12%, then it decreased at the end of the test to be less than the SCPV system at 5:00 pm. The thermal efficiency of the SCPV‐PCM arrangement is lesser than the arrangement that does not contain PCM, reaching its highest value at noon, which was 57.1% for the SCPV system. The total efficiency of the SCPV‐PCM system is lesser than the SCPV system from the beginning of the test until 3:30 pm approximately, reaching its highest value of 68.05% at noon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]