Fabrication and laboratory-based performance testing of a building-integrated photovoltaic-thermal roofing panel

Abstract

A building integrated photovoltaic-thermal (BIPVT) multifunctional roofing panel has been developed in this study to harvest solar energy in the form of PV electricity as well as heat energy through the collection of warm water. As a key component of the multifunctional building envelope, an aluminum/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) functionally graded material (FGM) panel embedded with aluminum water tubes has been fabricated through the vibrationsedimentation approach. The FGM layer gradually transits material phases from well-conductive side (with aluminum dominated) to another highly insulated side (with HDPE). The heat in the PV cells can be easily transferred into the conductive side of the FGM and then collected by the water flow in the embedded tubes. Therefore, the operational temperature of the PV cells can be significantly lowered down, which recovers the PV efficiency at high temperatures. In this way, the developed BIPVT panel is able to efficiently harvest solar energy in the form of both PV electricity and heat. The performance of a prototype BIPVT panel has been evaluated in terms of its thermal efficiency via warm water collection and PV efficiency via the output electricity. The laboratory test results demonstrate that significant energy conversion efficiency improvement can be achieved for both electricity generation and heat collection by the presented BIPVT roofing system. Overall, the performance indicates a very promising prospective of the new BIPVT multifunctional roofing panel.

Adaptability of photovoltaic mono-polycrystalline solar panels and photovoltaic roof tiles on dwelling roofs of real estate developments

“…Some studies have evaluated the potential of solar panels to supply a building's energy demands (Chen and Yin, 2016), along with the possibility of integrating them into the buildings (Cerón et al, 2013;Jelle, 2016). Several capabilities were proposed for determining the solar potential in urban areas to use it in passive or active systems (Compagnon, 2004).…”

Integración de captación activa y pasiva en viviendas unifamiliares de emprendimientos inmobiliarios

“…No obstante, en el ámbito extranjero este tipo de tecnología todavía es poco competitiva por el alto precio y el escaso desarrollo comercial. A pesar de ello se presenta como una alternativa interesante al optimizar espacio con respecto a instalar colectores fotovoltaicos y térmicos por separado, simplificando la instalación; adicionalmente, la superior exergía de los colectores híbridos muestran que se trata de una opción cada vez más rentable (CHEN; YIN, 2016). También es esencial un impulso político y un subsidio en etapa inicial para la masificación de estas tecnologías; por ahora, el Gobierno Chileno ha impulsado leyes para promover la integración solar térmica y fotovoltaica (MINENERGIA, 2009)(MINENERGIA, 2013) a través del subsidio en el caso térmico y de la posibilidad de conexión a red en caso de fotovoltaico.…”

Electrical characterization of photovoltaic cell with low-concentration ratio square aperture concentrator

“…A geometric comparison between 2D CPC and V‐trough has been made by Irshid and Othman and concluded that V‐trough concentrator has the advantage of less height than the CPC concentrator; consequently, less material is needed to build the concentrator. Also, an experimental investigation was made by Singh et al to compare CPC with V‐trough with geometric concentration ratio (GCR) of 2.2 in energy output.…”

“…The increase in PV temperature is one of the disadvantages of CPV systems leading to lower power output and PV operational life . With higher irradiance values, the cell temperature of CPV system is expected to be higher than 100°C, and cooling system should satisfy the cooling needs to reduce cell temperature and enhance system efficiency.…”