Development of photovoltaic-thermal using attachable solar collector based on on-site construction

Abstract

Photovoltaic–thermal (PVT) module that can generate thermal and electrical energy have been proposed for the realization of zero energy buildings. However, the high initial investment cost is deterred consumers adoption and is delayed its application in buildings. To address these limitations, this study proposed the PVT module with an attachable solar collector (PVT–ASC) that can construct on-site and has a simple manufacturing process to reduce the initial investment cost. The ASC was design as appropriate product in the commercialization based on computational fluid dynamic results and manufacturing costs. To evaluate the feasibility of the PVT–ASC, thermal efficiency, structural stability, economics, and environmental benefits are compared with commercial products. The thermal efficiency of the PVT–ASC was evaluated through field test and calculated to be 41 %. The PVT–ASC demonstrated the potential to become a marketable product due to its streamlined manufacturing process and comparable thermal efficiency to conventional commercial products. Furthermore, the economics and environmental benefits of the PVT–ASC were evaluated through comparison with commercial products considering disassembly, manufacturing, transportation and installation works. As the results, the PVT–ASC reduced total cost and CO2 emissions as 39 % (3820 USD) and 28 % (229kgCO2eq), respectively, compared to commercial products. These benefits of PVT–ASC in comparison to commercial products were expected to grow as transportation distances lengthened and building scale increased. The results of this study offered as low-cost and low-emissions technologies to facilitate the use of PVT modules in building applications.