Thermal management performance study of PV adsorptive evaporative cooling based on noncorrosive salt-embedded composites

Excessive temperatures are detrimental to the energy efficiency and lifetime of photovoltaic panels. The adsorption-evaporative cooling has been receiving much attention due to its eco-friendly and efficient. However, its application in PV thermal management is predominantly limited to the use of costly and corrosive hydrogel-hygroscopic salt composites or the installation of additional equipment for periodic water replenishment, which greatly limits its application. In this paper, a polytetrafluoroethylene film encapsulated non-corrosive hygroscopic salt composite, LiCl@ACFF, which exhibits both desired adsorption performance (adsorption capacity of 3.76 g/g at 25 °C&80%RH) and desorption properties (79 % desorption within 300 min at 40 °C), has been prepared and coupled with PV panel. Thermal management performance of the constructed photovoltaic-adsorbent assembly (PV-LA) was investigated by varying operating parameters in the constructed system. Multi-parameter studies are instructive for selecting reasonable application scenarios for this method. The average temperature difference between PV-LA and the original can reach 9.7 °C at 30 °C&60%RH. Furthermore, the maximum average cooling capacity of PV-LA to reach 356 W/m2. Compared with existing passive cooling methods (e.g., improved heat transfer structures, use of PCMs or hydrogel adsorbents, etc.), it combines high efficiency and convenience, realizing fully automated thermal management and demonstrating considerable PV thermal management potential.