Performance Evaluation of Air-based Building Integrated Photovolta-ic/Thermal (BIPV/T) System with Multiple Inlets in a Cold Climate

Abstract

This paper presents an evaluation of the air-based building integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) system with multiple inlets for a cold climate for a solar house with a typical roof having 4-5 inlets. The experimental investigation of the BIPV/T prototypes with one and two air inlets in a full-scale solar simulator was conducted to develop the correlation for the convective heat transfer coefficient of the PV air channel with multiple inlets. The mathe-matical model for air-based BIPV/T systems with multiple inlets is proposed, based on which a computer program is developed. The computer program is verified with experi-mental results. With the computer program, the performance of an air-based BIPV/T system with multiple inlets for a cold climate for a solar house is evaluated. The results show that the thermal efficiency of the system can be increased by 7% with four air inlets compared to one inlet, given that the total air flow rates are the same. It is shown that the novel design of introducing multiple inlets in the BIPV/T air system enhances its energy performance.