Abstract
Integrating solar PV technology with semi-transparent windows permits multifunctional operation as electricity generation and allowing natural light to enter the building, hence overall energy efficiency improvement. The performance of the semi-transparent building integrated PV glazing on office building facade has been investigated in Tanzania’s tropical climate. Experimental measurements of the electrical and optical parameters for the system efficacy evaluation were done at various conditions which included cloudy, normal, and clear sky days. The weather parameters under consideration were solar irradiance, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed. The experimental set-up consisted of building integrated silicon mono crystalline semi-transparent PV module rated at 50 W and accessories. The I-V and P-V curves were measured at different irradiances. Throughout the experiment, the observed module temperature was between 20°C and 51°C and the air temperature was 17–33°C while the humidity was recorded at the range of 23–63%. Module electrical efficiency was observed to vary from 4% to 9% while the visible light transmission was obtained between 11% and 19%. It was proved that at high temperature regardless of irradiance increase, there were observed output power and efficiency drops caused by high heat losses.
Highlights
Energy is an essential component and considered as the major agent that touches almost every sphere of human life, and the requirement for human development in the development process of any country for achieving sustainable goals according to [1,2,3]
Photovoltaic (PV) technology as the main provider of solar energy supply is a clean energy source that supports climate change mitigation [8]. It is one of the major ways of harvesting renewable energy for buildings that can minimize energy crises [9,10,11]. is is because the solar PV has minimal greenhouse gas emissions related to burning fossil fuel or any other source of energy. is is proved by [3, 12] that photovoltaic solar energy is an e cient and cost e ective energy as it has transformed socio-economic lives in villages, cities, and countries in Africa
It has been observed that at clear sky, the energy received was 6 kWh/m2/day, at normal sky, 4 kWh/m2/ day while at the cloudy sky, the total solar energy was only 2 kWh/m2/day. e irradiance was reduced sharply when the sun was covered by clouds and raised shortly when the sky cleared. e solar irradiance ranges were ~30–450 W/m2, 75–800 W/m2, and 130–1350 W/m2 on a cloudy, normal, and clear sky days condition, respectively, throughout the experimentations. e maximum solar irradiance at noon reached ~1350 W/m2 for the whole experiment while the minimum irradiance was obtained in the evening ~32.5 W/m2
Summary
Energy is an essential component and considered as the major agent that touches almost every sphere of human life, and the requirement for human development in the development process of any country for achieving sustainable goals according to [1,2,3]. Photovoltaic (PV) technology as the main provider of solar energy supply is a clean energy source that supports climate change mitigation [8]. E e orts in providing a ordable, clean, and sustainable energy have o en concentrated on the conventional single renewable energy technology options such as the solar photovoltaic and the wind according to [16, 17]. Erefore, with this backdrop, the study aims at investigating the electrical and optical performance of the semi-transparent BIPV for o ce building applications mostly suitable for tropical conditions. One of the sensors was connected directly to the data logger for recording room temperature and relative humidity. e air temperature was recorded by another sensor that was installed outside nearby the solar panel and the module temperature was connected by another sensor within the surface of the panel
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