Volume 11: Sustainable Energy Solutions for Changing the World: Part III

Parametric study on thermal management of BIPV ventilated double glass façade with PCM elements T. Žižak, C. Arkar, S. Domjan, S. Medved

Abstract

This study evaluates the cooling effect of latent heat storage (PCM) on integrated PV cells between two glass layers in a double-glazed ventilated building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade. Transient CFD simulations were performed to investigate the potential of thermal management. The varying parameters were: PCM thickness, PCM thermal conductivity, PCM latent heat storage capacity, BIPV glass thickness, and air velocity in the ventilated gap. A regression model with interactions was made for evaluating the relative impact of thermal management on overheating hours compared to a reference system without PCM. The results show the importance of enhancing the thermal conductivity of PCM, with the greatest impact in the initial enhancement and neglectable effect at higher values above roughly 1 W/mK.

Keywords PV cell cooling, Building-integrated photovoltaics, Phase change materials, parametric modelling