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Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings
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Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2022) | Viewed by 14476

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Getu Hailu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Alaska Anchorage, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA
Interests: BIPV/T; solar thermal; thermal management; HVAC; heat pumps; kelp drying; indoor air quality
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue of the journal is titled “Building-Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings”, and it will mainly be focused on technologies which combine PV and thermal systems, concurrently providing thermal energy and electricity. The concurrent production of heat and electricity increases the total energy generation of PVs per unit surface area in comparison to the standalone PV system. The BIPV/T system can increase electrical performance and lead to faster payback time than traditional PV systems. This Special Issue will focus on BIPV/T systems and their applications, the most recent developments in PV technologies for BIPV/T application, energy and exergy analysis of BIPV/T systems, BIPV/T systems coupled with heat pumps, BIPV/T systems coupled to building mechanical systems, active and passive BIPV/T systems, experimental, analytical and numerical analysis of heat transfer in BIPV/T systems, life cycle cost analysis, and life cycle conversion efficiency. Performance analysis of BIPV/T system, techno-economics and sustainability of BIPV/T system, worldwide case studies, and energy payback periods are all in the scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Getu Hailu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Keywords: BIPV/T systems
  • exergy analysis
  • energy analysis
  • BIPV/T systems modeling
  • BIPV/T BIPV/T + heat pump
  • energy and exergy analysis

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2811 KiB  
Article
Utilizing a Domestic Water Tank to Make the Air Conditioning System in Residential Buildings More Sustainable in Hot Regions
by Radwan A. Almasri, Nidal H. Abu-Hamdeh, Abdullah Alajlan and Yazeed Alresheedi
Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15456; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215456 - 21 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2896
Abstract
Air conditioning (AC) is considered an important requirement for hot environments, but it is facing one of the most demanding obstacles as concerns the use of electrical energy resources. In 2019, electricity consumption in the residential sector in Gulf Cooperation Council states reached [...] Read more.
Air conditioning (AC) is considered an important requirement for hot environments, but it is facing one of the most demanding obstacles as concerns the use of electrical energy resources. In 2019, electricity consumption in the residential sector in Gulf Cooperation Council states reached approximately 43% of the total national consumption, and about two-thirds of the electrical energy consumed in residential buildings (RBs) was used for AC. Therefore, as these indicators show, there is a need to focus on studying AC. One of the most important reasons for the high consumption of electrical energy in RBs is the big difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures. In this paper, a heat exchanger was designed and tested experimentally to reduce this temperature difference by using a domestic ground water tank (GWT) as a sink/source (water-cooled condensers instead of air-cooling). The results have shown that the water tank made the surrounding temperature around the external coil of the AC more suitable for cooling/heating. The proposed system resulted in a reduction in energy consumption by 28% of the electrical energy needed in the conventional system and an increase in COP by 39%. This means that this system is more efficient and therefore more sustainable. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings)
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14 pages, 3436 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study of Phase Change Microcapsule Suspensions Applied in BIPV Construction
by Yu Zheng, Xiaoming Li, Wenjie Zhang, Kuan Wang, Feng Han, Xiaoge Li and Yuqiang Zhao
Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10819; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141710819 - 30 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1527
Abstract
In this paper, a phase change microcapsule suspension MPCMS25 with a mass fraction of 10% was prepared with TH-ME25 as the phase change microcapsule particles and deionized water as the base fluid. The experimental benches of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system and [...] Read more.
In this paper, a phase change microcapsule suspension MPCMS25 with a mass fraction of 10% was prepared with TH-ME25 as the phase change microcapsule particles and deionized water as the base fluid. The experimental benches of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system and BIPV-MPCMS system were set up, and the comparative tests were carried out in Nanjing to study the optimization effect of phase change microcapsule suspension on the thermal and electrical properties of the BIPV system. The results show that MPCMS25 reduces the component temperature of the system by 8.8 °C and the backplane temperature by 11.1 °C. The optimization time of the component operating temperature and the backplane temperature is 9.5 h and 9.75 h, respectively. Delay appearance of peak module operating temperature by 114 min and peak backplane temperature by 125 min. In addition, the suspension can also improve the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of photovoltaic modules by 0~5%. After a simulation study on the energy consumption of a high-speed railway station, it is found that using the BIPV-MPCMS system as the building envelope can achieve an energy saving rate of about 8.5%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings)
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22 pages, 8108 KiB  
Article
A Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis of Mono-Si and Poly-Si Photovoltaic Systems in the Rooftop Area of Commercial Building under the Feed-In Tariff Scheme
by Ke Shi, Chuangyi Li and Choongwan Koo
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4709; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094709 - 22 Apr 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3036
Abstract
Hong Kong’s government has recently introduced the feed-in tariff scheme to promote the photovoltaic (PV) system as a promising way to address global warming. The feed-in tariff scheme depends on the type of the PV system and its installed capacity. This study aimed [...] Read more.
Hong Kong’s government has recently introduced the feed-in tariff scheme to promote the photovoltaic (PV) system as a promising way to address global warming. The feed-in tariff scheme depends on the type of the PV system and its installed capacity. This study aimed to investigate the techno-economic feasibility of mono-Si and poly-Si PV systems in the rooftop area of a commercial building, Pao Yue-Kong Library of Hong Kong, under the feed-in tariff scheme. The analysis was carried out in two phases: (i) technical analysis of the rooftop PV systems by considering the shading effect and solar radiation and (ii) economic feasibility of the rooftop PV systems under the feed-in tariff scheme from the life cycle perspective. The main findings of the case study can be summarized: (i) the rooftop area of the target building would not be significantly affected by surrounding buildings; (ii) the highest amount of solar radiation was estimated at 136.96 kWh/m2 in October, while the lowest value was 55.64 kWh/m2 in February; (iii) the total amount of module energy yield from the mono-Si PV system was estimated at 917.58 kWh/kW, indicating that it was very similar but a little bit lower (i.e., 0.48%) than that for the poly-Si PV system (i.e., 921.98 kWh/kW); and (iv) payback periods for mono-Si and poly-Si PV systems were estimated at 8.67 and 8.31 years, respectively. The feasibility study can contribute to providing facility managers with a practical guideline to determine the appropriate strategy in implementing the PV systems in buildings under the feed-in tariff scheme. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings)
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21 pages, 5020 KiB  
Article
An Innovative Façade Element with Controlled Solar-Thermal Collector and Storage
by Thomas Wüest, Lars O. Grobe and Andreas Luible
Sustainability 2020, 12(13), 5281; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12135281 - 30 Jun 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5964
Abstract
A novel façade element is presented that forms a symbiosis between an enhanced box-type window, a closed cavity façade, and a Trombe wall. This hybrid, transparent-opaque façade element features an absorbing water tank, that is installed behind a controlled shading device toward the [...] Read more.
A novel façade element is presented that forms a symbiosis between an enhanced box-type window, a closed cavity façade, and a Trombe wall. This hybrid, transparent-opaque façade element features an absorbing water tank, that is installed behind a controlled shading device toward the cavity of a non-ventilated Double Skin Façade in the parapet section. To evaluate the potential impact on building performance, a transient simulation model is developed in Modelica and calibrated by comparison with measurements on a prototype. The effect of the absorbing thermal storage on heat transfers under solar radiation is analyzed in comparison to (i) conditions excluding solar radiation and (ii) an empty tank. An evaluation for four European cities demonstrates that the annual heating demand can be reduced by more than 4.2% and cooling demand by at least 6.6% compared to a façade without thermal storage. The effect is explained not only by the increased thermal mass, but also by the effective modulation of solar gains by the controlled absorbing storage. The dampening of heat flow fluctuations and the control of solar gains is a promising means to reduce the installed power of HVAC (heating/ventilating/air conditioning) installations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Net Zero Energy/plus Buildings)
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