A study of design options for a building integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) system with glazed air collector and multiple inlets

In this paper, a prototype open loop air-based building integrated photovoltaic thermal BIPV/T system with a single inlet is studied through a comprehensive series of experiments in a full scale solar simulator recently built at Concordia University. A numerical control volume model is developed and validated based on the results from the experiments. Improved designs of the BIPV/T system with multiple inlets and other means of heat transfer enhancement are studied through simulations. Simulation results indicate that the application of two inlets on a BIPV/T collector increase thermal efficiency by around 5% and increase electrical efficiency marginally. An added vertical glazed solar air collector improves the thermal efficiency significantly, and the improvement is more significant with wire mesh packing in the collector. (C) 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.