Effect of PV-Trombe wall in the multi-storey building on standard effective temperature (SET)-based indoor thermal comfort

Abstract

For the building with photovoltaic-Trombe wall (PV-TW), the reasonable air temperature management is an ideal solution to achieve building energy-saving without sacrificing thermal comfort level. However, the change of indoor thermal environment caused by PV-TW has not been paid enough attention, especially for a room in the multi-storey building. In this study, by coupling PV-TW and indoor environment, a thermal comfort analysis model based on energy balance and nodes method was established, and solved by MATLAB R2016a. The indoor thermal comfort of a room installed with PV-TW in the multi-storey building was evaluated by introducing standard effective temperature (SET), and the differences in indoor thermal comfort among built-in (BIPV-TW), built-out (BOPV-TW), and built-middle PV-TW (BMPV-TW) were compared. The results reveal that the room with BIPV-TW in the multi-storey building maintains the indoor thermal comfort level within the acceptable range for the longest time. Moving the installation location of absorber plate in BMPV-TW can improve the indoor thermal comfort and its electrical performance. In the room with PV-TW, the indoor thermal comfort is significantly affected by the clothing resistance and the adjacent room temperature. For the occupant with optimal clothing resistance (1.2 clo for BOPV-TW, 1 clo for BIPV-TW and BMPV-TW), the occupant in the room with BOPV-TW does not feel cold and very uncomfortable, and the duration of the comfortable state is the longest. The optimal adjacent room temperatures for rooms with BIPV-TW, BMPV-TW and BOPV-TW are respectively 18 °C, 20 °C, and 22 °C according to the duration of the acceptable and comfortable state.