Experimental study and performance evaluation of a PV-blind embedded double skin façade in winter season

In this research, a double skin facade integrated with amorphous silicon photovoltaic blinds (PVB-DSF) is experimentally investigated. This structure can fulfill multiple functions of the power generation in situ and lowering heat gain or loss through glazing. The experiment rig was built to investigate the thermal and electrical performance of PVB-DSF system. The performance difference between ventilation and non-ventilation mode of PVB-DSF is first analyzed. Then thermal performance of PVB-DSF is demonstrated by comparison with traditional opaque façade (brick wall) and semi-transparent glazing facade (double skin façade) in winter conditions. The results demonstrate that PVB-DSF can reach much higher solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and lower heat transfer coefficient in non-ventilation mode. PVB-DSF can save about 1121 Wh/(m2day) of heating energy in winter compared with the brick wall. By average value, the heat gain of PVB-DSF could be 73.74% higher than conventional DSF in winter. In addition, another type of semi-transparent PV-DSF is also compared with PVB-DSF. The results suggest that PVB-DSF can achieve better thermal performance but lower power generation efficiency comparing to semi-transparent PV-DSF.