A two-dimensional model of a double-facade with integrated photovoltaic panels

Building integrated photovoltaic (PV) systems that include heat capture are more cost effective than PV systems that generate only electricity This paper presents a two-dimensional control-volume model for a double-facade with integrated PV The model may be employed to determine maximum PV temperature. Good agreement with a one-dimensional analytical model is obtained for air temperature rise. Experiments in Montreal showed that air temperatures could increase by 20 degrees C when passing air through a 1 in high facade section, and maximum PV temperatures of close to 50 degrees C could be reached even in -17 degrees C weather for ail air velocity of 0.6 m/s. The highest uncertainty in PV temperature prediction is due to the values of convective heat transfer coefficients from the literature which are generally lower than observed values.