Simulation Study of a Naturally Ventilated Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Envelope

Abstract

This paper addresses the numerical simulation of a partially transparent, ventilated PV façade designed for cooling in summer (by natural convection) and for heat recovery in winter (with the aid of mechanical ventilation). For both configurations, air in the cavity between the two building skins (photovoltaic façade and the primary building wall) is heated by transmission through transparent glazed sections, and by convective and radiative exchange. First we describe the model for the naturally ventilated envelope. Validation of the model and the subsequent simulation of a building-coupled system are then presented, which were undertaken using experimental data from the RESSOURCES project (ANR-PREBAT 2007). The dataset comprise measurements from a full scale prototype system installed on a real office building in Toulouse, France. Finally the heating and cooling needs of a simulated building were calculated and the impact of climatic variations on the system performance was investigated. The PV double-skin was found to result in a slight increase in cooling needs for all the French climates considered, whereas the impact of the façade on heating needs was found to be not predominant from point of view energetic.