Thermal Analysis of a New Sliding Smart Window Integrated with Vacuum Insulation, Photovoltaic, and Phase Change Material

Mostafa Ahmed, Ali Radwan, Ahmed Serageldin, Saim Memon, Takao Katsura and Katsunori Nagano
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Mostafa Ahmed: Division of Urban and Environment Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Ali Radwan: Division of Urban and Environment Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Ahmed Serageldin: Division of Urban and Environment Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Saim Memon: Solar Thermal Vacuum Engineering Research Group, London Centre for Energy Engineering, School of Engineering, London South Bank University, London SE1 0AA, UK
Takao Katsura: Division of Urban and Environment Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan
Katsunori Nagano: Division of Urban and Environment Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, N13-W8, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 19, 1-21

Abstract: A zero-energy building (ZEB) requires an innovative integration of technologies, in which windows play a paramount role in energy reduction, storage, and generation. This study contributes to four innovative designs of sliding smart windows. It integrates air-gap (AG), phase change material (PCM), photovoltaic (PV), and vacuum glazing (VG) technologies. These smart sliding windows are proposed to generate electricity along with achieving efficient thermal insulations and heat storage simultaneously. A two-dimensional multiphysics thermal model that couples the PCM melting and solidification model, PV model, natural convection in the cavity, and the surface-to-surface radiation model in the vacuum gap are developed for the first time. The model is validated with data in the literature. The transient simulations were carried out to investigate the thermo-electrical performance of a window with an area of 1 m by 1 m for the meteorological conditions of Kuwait city on the 10th of June 2018, where the window was oriented to south direction. The results showed that the total solar heat energy gain per unit window area is 2.6 kWh, 0.02 kWh, 0.22 kWh, 1.48 kWh, and 0.2 kWh for the double AG, AG + PV + PCM + VG, PV + PCM + VG, AG + PV + PCM, and the ventilated AG + PV + PCM + VG, respectively. The results elucidate the advantages of the integration of VG in this integrated sliding smart window. The daily generated PV electrical energy in these systems is around 1.3 kWh, 1.43 kWh, and 1.38 kWh for the base case with double AG, PV + PCM + VG, and the ventilated AG + PV + PCM + VG respectively per unit window area.

Keywords: phase change material; photovoltaics; vacuum glazing; smart window; computational fluid dynamics; energy efficiency; renewable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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