Photovoltaic technologies and performance improvement by use of phase change materials
Sandro Nižetić
University of Split, Croatia
ABSTRACT
Ongoing energy transition is highly focused on the implementation of the renewable energy technologies, where leading role have photovoltaic (PV) technologies. Current market available PV technologies are silicon based and which are oldest PV technology, however the most reliable, as well as economically suitable. The other potential novel PV technologies are still under development, and not yet ready for the market. Due to significant increase in overall global installed PV capacities, there would be an issue with the PV waste in upcoming years, especially when considering that still recycling methods are not at the desirable level when considering overall cost and their environmental suitability. The overall energy conversion efficiency of the market PV technologies is usually less than 20% in real operating conditions since many factors can affect PV system performance. The possible strategy how overall performance, as well as lifetime of the PV panels can be improved, is to implement phase change materials (PCM). The lecture will first cover status of the market available PV technologies followed with discussion of ongoing issues. Finally, the specific PV-PCM passive cooling techniques will be elaborated and their impact on the PV panel performance.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Prof. Dr. Sandro Nižetić is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (FESB) at University of Split (Croatia). His research is in the field of thermodynamics, energy, energy efficiency in buildings, smart technologies and renewable energy sources. He has over twenty years of the teaching experience at University and from 2005 he is an ASHRAE member and he is also ASHRAE student branch advisor at University of Split. He has worked on various projects related to the implementation of energy efficiency measures in public buildings under the auspices of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). He was also the head of the several national research’s projects. He also served as a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Construction and Spatial Planning in the Croatian government, and as Vice Dean of Research at home institution (FESB). Prof. Dr. Nižetić has organized and chaired several international conferences (IEES, ICH2P, SpliTech, ICRIC, GCGW-21, PRES-22 etc) and he is co-founder of the successful international conference SpliTech (International Conference on Smart and Sustainable Technologies). He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Energy Sources Part A (Taylor&Francis), Associate Editor of the Solar Energy Journal (Elsevier) and Subject Editor of Energy (Elsevier) journal. He is editorial board member of different reputable journals such as: Energy and Buildings (Elsevier), Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (Springer), International Journal of Sustainable Energy (Taylor&Francis), etc. Prof. Dr. Nižetić has published over 250 research and conference papers, as well as several techno-economic professional case studies. He has visited several research and educational institutions worldwide as visiting researcher or as visiting lecturer. He has organized over thirty SI in various reputable international journals. For his research work he received several major awards including the Croatian State Prize for the research for 2016 and 2021, as well as also Rector prize for the research from the University of Split for 2018, 2020 and 2023. Based on the Stanford and Elsevier ranking list he was among 2% of the World's top cited scientist in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 for single year and overall career. He is member of Croatian Academy of Engineering and he Chairs National Steering Committee for the fields of Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture, Traffic and Transport Technology, Aviation, Rocket and Space Technology.
