Design, optimization and performance analysis of an asymmetric concentrator-PV type window for the building south wall application

Abstract The development of PV type window for building south wall integration is a promising concept, which provides a solution to the energy crisis and environment pollution problem. Thus in this paper, an asymmetric concentrator is proposed, and through the simple concentrator array optimization process, the asymmetric concentrator-PV type window can be designed, which provides the electricity generation and incorporates the function of daylighting at the same time. The optical models for the concentrator design and daylighting analysis are built and experimentally validated. The optical performance of the asymmetric concentrator has been analyzed. Considering that the incidence angles of sunrays on the building south wall remain at a high level throughout the year, the shading effect should be seriously considered. In order to reduce the shading effect between each concentrator array, the shading effect has been predicted and an arrangement optimization strategy by setting gaps between each concentrator array is presented. It was found that these gaps could alleviate the shading effect, which will also further allow the function of daylighting. Through the simulation analysis, it was found that the asymmetric concentrator can attain a large acceptance range of 10°–85° while maintaining high optical efficiency and the asymmetric concentrator-PV type window can achieve the daylighting efficiency of 4.0% to 21.8%, thus it can confirm good annual concentrating PV and daylighting performance. At last, a typical office room (the length, width and height are 3.4 m × 3.0 m × 3.3 m) installed with the asymmetric concentrator-PV type window is modelled and the illuminance distribution on the ground floor at various incidence angles is determined with the solar irradiance set at 500 W m−2. Besides of that, the energy distribution for the electricity generation and daylighting at various incidence angles is also indicated. Through the analysis, the asymmetric concentrator-PV type window is proved suitable for building south wall integration, which can efficiently use the solar energy for the domestic use, in the forms of electricity and daylighting.

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