A Study on the Performance Comparisons of Air Type BIPVT Collector Applied on Roofs and Facades

The integration of PV modules into building facades or roof could raise their temperature that results in the reduction of PV system's electrical power generation. Hot air can be extracted from the space between PV modules and building envelope, and used for heating in buildings. PV/thermal collectors, or more generally known as PVT collectors, are devices that operate simultaneously to convert solar energy from the sun into two other useful energies, namely, electricity and heat. This paper compares the experimental performance of BIPVT((Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Thermal) collectors that applied on building roof and facade. There are four different cases: a roof-integrated PVT type and a facade-integrated PVT type, the base models with an air gap between the PV module and the surface, and the improved models for each types with aluminum fins attached to the PV modules. The accumulated thermal energy of the roof-integrated type was 15.8% higher than the facade-integrated regardless of fin attachment. The accumulated electrical energy of the roof-integrated type was 7.6% higher, compared to that of the facade-integrated. The efficiency differences among the collectors may be due to the fact that the pins absorbed heat from the PV module and emitted it to air layer.