Abstract

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) replaces building envelope materials and provides electric power generator, which has aroused great interest for those in the fields of energy conservation and building design. Double-skin façade (DSF) has attracted significant attention over the last three decades due to its bi-layer structure, which improves thermal and acoustic insulation and therefore increases the energy efficiency and thermal comfort of buildings. It is hypothesised that the integration of BIPV and DSF (BIPV-DSF) would help buildings in reducing energy consumption and improving indoor thermal comfort concurrently. However, the prototype of the BIPV-DSF has not been well explored. Thus, the investigations of the BIPV-DSF are worthwhile. Numerical simulation is a cost and time effective measure for the design and analysis of buildings. This chapter spells out a comprehensive method of numerical simulation modelling of the novel BIPV-DSF system in buildings, which is carried out by using a graphically based design tool – TRNSYS and its plugins. TRNSYS has been validated and widely used in both the BIPV and building related research activities, which are capable in analysing the effects of BIPV-DSF on building performance such as energy consumption and indoor thermal condition.

Highlights

  • Either building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) or double-skin façades (DSF) is widely adopted in buildings; few studies or real applications of the hybrid mechanism of BIPV and DSF have been implemented in either academic or industrial settings [1]

  • The proposed numerical BIPV-DSF model can be used to investigate the advantages of double-skin façades and building-integrated photovoltaic technology in terms of thermal and electrical performances of the entire BIPV-DSF integrated onto buildings, which are related to indoor thermal condition and energy consumption of buildings

  • TRNSYS and TRNFlow programmes are selected for carrying out the proposed numerical modelling, which are able to predict the effects of the implementation of the BIPV-DSF on building performance such as energy consumption and indoor thermal condition, based on the capabilities of the software

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Summary

Introduction

Either building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) or double-skin façades (DSF) is widely adopted in buildings; few studies or real applications of the hybrid mechanism of BIPV and DSF have been implemented in either academic or industrial settings [1]. It is worth understanding the behaviour of this novel integrated system – BIPV-DSF. It has been proved that numerical simulation modelling is much more cost-effective and less time consuming than experimental study, especially for those inaccessibly experimental conditions in real life [4] In this context, the proposed chapter presents a comprehensive method of numerical simulation modelling of the novel BIPV-DSF system in buildings. The proposed numerical BIPV-DSF model can be used to investigate the advantages of double-skin façades and building-integrated photovoltaic technology in terms of thermal and electrical performances of the entire BIPV-DSF integrated onto buildings, which are related to indoor thermal condition and energy consumption of buildings

Overview of the proposed numerical simulation modelling
Building simulation modelling in TRNSYS
The BIPV-DSF simulation modelling in TRNSYS
Summary of the BIPV-DSF model in TRNSYS
Conclusions
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