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Effect of air gap on the performance of building-integrated photovoltaics

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  • Gan, Guohui

Abstract

Ventilation of photovoltaic (PV) modules installed over or beside a building envelope can reduce the module temperature and increase the electrical conversion efficiency. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method has been used to assess the effect of the size of air gap between PV modules and the building envelope on the PV performance in terms of cell temperature for a range of roof pitches and panel lengths and to determine the minimum air gap that is required to minimise PV overheating. It has been found that the mean PV temperature and the maximum PV temperature associated with hot spots decrease with the increase in pitch angle and air gap. The mean PV temperature also decreases with increasing panel length for air gaps greater than or equal to 0.08m whereas the maximum PV temperature generally increases with panel length. To reduce possible overheating of PV modules and hot spots near the top of modules requires a minimum air gap of 0.12–0.15m for multiple module installation and 0.14–0.16m for single module installation depending on roof pitches.

Suggested Citation

  • Gan, Guohui, 2009. "Effect of air gap on the performance of building-integrated photovoltaics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 913-921.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:34:y:2009:i:7:p:913-921
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2009.04.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Skoplaki, E. & Palyvos, J.A., 2009. "Operating temperature of photovoltaic modules: A survey of pertinent correlations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 23-29.
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    5. Kaldellis, J.K. & Kokala, A., 2010. "Quantifying the decrease of the photovoltaic panels’ energy yield due to phenomena of natural air pollution disposal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(12), pages 4862-4869.
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    10. Ali, Ahmed Hamza H. & Ahmed, Mahmoud & Abdel-Gaied, S.M., 2013. "Investigation of heat transfer and fluid flow in transitional regime inside a channel with staggered plates heated by radiation for PV/T system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 255-264.
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    13. Sun, Wei & Ji, Jie & He, Wei, 2010. "Influence of channel depth on the performance of solar air heaters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 4201-4207.
    14. Zogou, Olympia & Stapountzis, Herricos, 2011. "Experimental validation of an improved concept of building integrated photovoltaic panels," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 3488-3498.
    15. Huh, Daihong & Choi, Hak-Jong & Byun, Minseop & Kim, Kwan & Lee, Heon, 2019. "Long-term analysis of PV module with large-area patterned anti-reflective film," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 525-528.
    16. Jiashu Kong & Yitong Dong & Aravind Poshnath & Behzad Rismanchi & Pow-Seng Yap, 2023. "Application of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) in Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-26, September.
    17. Tsay, Y.L. & Cheng, J.C. & Hong, H.F. & Shih, Z.H., 2011. "Characteristics of heat dissipation from photovoltaic cells on the bottom wall of a horizontal cabinet to ambient natural convective air stream," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 3959-3967.
    18. D'Orazio, M. & Di Perna, C. & Di Giuseppe, E., 2014. "Experimental operating cell temperature assessment of BIPV with different installation configurations on roofs under Mediterranean climate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 378-396.
    19. Ana Tejero-González & Dorota Anna Krawczyk & José Ramón Martín-Sanz García & Francisco Javier Rey-Martínez & Eloy Velasco-Gómez, 2019. "Improved Performance of a PV Integrated Ventilated Façade at an Existing nZEB," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-14, August.
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