BIPV/T curtain wall systems: Design, development and testing

Abstract

This paper presents the design, development and experimental testing of a Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (BIPV/T) curtain wall prototype. The main purpose of this study was to address the lack of design standardization in BIPV/T systems, which has been identified as a major factor for the limited number of applications of such systems, by proposing a BIPV/T design approach based on a well-established building practice, incorporating thermal enhancement techniques suitable for building integration. Additionally, this study addressed the applicability of commonly used expressions for convective heat transfer in PV/T modelling. A BIPV/T curtain wall prototype was studied experimentally in an indoor solar simulator facility. Thermal enhancement techniques, including multiple inlets, semi-transparent instead of opaque PV and a newly introduced flow deflector were evaluated. Test results showed a thermal efficiency of up to 33%. A multiple-inlet configuration assisted by a flow deflector behind the PV panel was found to enhance the thermal performance by up to 16% and reduced the peak PV temperatures by 3.5 °C, with a marginal increase in the electrical efficiency. The recorded Nusselt numbers were found to have poor or marginal agreement with the expressions presented in the relevant literature, indicating the need for a more generalized approach for the modelling of convective phenomena in BIPV/T systems. This study provides a foundation for air-based BIPV/T design standardization and incorporation of common building practices, and highlights issues regarding convective heat transfer modelling.