To improve indoor air quality, appropriate ventilation is essential. Ventilation, somewhat contributes to heat loss. Heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system presents solutions to exchange discarded heat of exhaust air with incoming outdoor air. Photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system is the technology for producing electricity in PV module and using heat at the back side of the panel for hot water heating system simultaneously. Heated air from an air-type PV/T can be coupled with HRV system for preheating instead of outside air intake. Thus the ventilation efficiency can be improved. With heated air of an air-type PV/T collector, freezing and dew condensation problems in traditional HRV system caused by low temperature air during winter, can be resolved. The performance of air type PV/T collector coupled with HRV has been studied experimentally.
A heat-recovery ventilator (HRV) effectively conducts ventilation by recovering waste heat from indoors to outdoors during heating periods. However, dew condensation associated with the HRV system may arise due to the difference between the indoor temperature and the very low outdoor temperature in winter, and this can decrease the heat exchange efficiency. These problems can be solved by the pre-heating of the incoming air, but additional energy is required when pursuing such a strategy. On the other hand, an air-type photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system produces electricity and thermal energy simultaneously using air as the heat transfer medium. Moreover, the heated air from the air-type PVT system can be connected to the HRV to pre-heat the supply air instead of taking in the cold outdoor air. Thus, the ventilation efficiency can be improved and the problems arising during the heating period can be resolved. Consequentially, the heating energy required in a building can be reduced, with additional electricity acquired as well. In this paper, the performance of an air-type PVT system coupled with an HRV is assessed. To do this, air-type PVT collectors operating at 1 kW p were installed in an experimental house and coupled to an HRV system. Thermal performance and heating energy required during the winter season were analyzed experimentally. Furthermore, the electrical performances of the air-type PVT system with and without ventilation at the back side of the PV during the summer season were analyzed.
Almost every major city’s skyline is known for high-rise iconic buildings with some level of curtain wall system (CWS) installed. Although complex, a CWS can be designed for energy efficiency by integrating insulated spandrel components in space-constrained areas, such as slabs/plenums. The main aim of this study was to experimentally examine the thermal performance of an optimized curtain wall spandrel system integrated with vacuum insulation panel (VIP) as spandrel insulation. The study is based on robust experimental evaluations, augmented with appropriate numerical computations. The main study is constituted of six parts: (1) evaluation of VIP specifications and thermal properties; (2) analysis of VIP spandrel configuration, fabrication, and installation in a test building facility; (3) thermal bridge characterization of VIP spandrels; (4) monitoring and assessment of VIP durability within the spandrel cavities; (5) thermal performance analysis; and (6) assessment of related limitations and challenges, along with some further reflections. In all, 22 VIPs (each of size 600 mm2) were used. The effective thermal conductivity of VIPs ranged from 5.1–5.4 (10−3 W/mK) and the average value for initial inner pressure was approximately 4.3–5.9 mbar. Three VIP spandrel cases were fabricated and tested. The results proved that the Case 3 VIP spandrel configuration (composed of a double-layer VIP) was the most improved alternative for integrating VIPs.
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