Performance of PV-Trombe wall in winter correlated with south façade design

Abstract

PV-Trombe wall (PVTW) is a novel version of Trombe-wall. Photovoltaic cells on the cover glazing of the PVTW can convert solar radiation into electricity and heat simultaneously. A window on the south façade can also introduce solar heat into the room in the winter season. Experiment has been conducted to study the temperature field of a building with both southern facing window and the PVTW. A dynamic numerical model is developed for the simulation of the whole building system. The temperature of the indoor air is found to be vertically stratified from the measurement. The nodal model is adopted to calculate the temperature profile in the room. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data. The different south façade designs affect the thermal efficiency of the PVTW significantly from the numerical simulation. With a southern facing window, the thermal efficiency of the PVTW is reduced by 27% relatively. The increase of PV coverage on the glazing can reduce the thermal efficiency of the TW by up to 17%. By taking account of electric conversion, the total efficiency of solar utilization is reduced by 5% at most while the glazing is fully covered with PV cells. The electric conversion efficiency of the PVTW achieves 11.6%, and is slightly affected by south façade designs.