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.