Study on the Influence of Mounting Dimensions of PV Array on Module Temperature in Open-Joint Photovoltaic Ventilated Double-Skin Façades

Wenjie Zhang, Tongdan Gong, Shengbing Ma, Jianwei Zhou and Yingbo Zhao
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Wenjie Zhang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Tongdan Gong: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Shengbing Ma: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Jianwei Zhou: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China
Yingbo Zhao: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-14

Abstract: In building integrated photovoltaics (PV), it is important to solve the heat dissipation problem of PV modules. In this paper, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method is used to simulate the flow field around the open-joint photovoltaic ventilated double-skin façades (OJ-PV-DSF) to study the influence of the mounting dimensions (MD) of a PV array on the module temperature. The typical summer afternoon meteorological parameters, such as the total radiation (715.4 W/m 2 ), the outdoor temperature (33.1 °C), and the wind speed (2.0 m/s), etc., are taken as input parameters. With the DO (discrete ordinates) model and the RNG (renormalization-group) k − ε model, a steady state calculation is carried out to simulate the flow of air in and around the cavity under the coupling of hot pressure and wind pressure, thereby obtaining the temperature distribution of the PV array and the wall. In addition, the simulation results are compared with the onsite experimental data and thermal imaging to verify the accuracy of the CFD model. Then three MD of the open joints are discussed. The results show that when the a value (represents the distance between PV modules and wall) changes from 0.05 to 0.15, the temperature drop of the PV module is the most obvious, reaching 2.0 K. When the b value (representing the distance between two adjacent PV modules in the vertical direction) changes from 0 to 0.1, the temperature drop of the PV module is most obvious, reaching 1 K. When the c value (represents the distance between two adjacent PV modules in the horizontal direction) changes from 0 to 0.1, the temperature of the PV module is lowered by 0.8 K. Thus, a = 0.1–0.15, b = 0.1 and c = 0.1 are recommended for engineering applications to effectively reduce the module temperature.

Keywords: photovoltaic double skin façades (PV-DSF); air layer; PV array arrangement; CFD; module temperature (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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