Numerical Study of the Impact of Transverse Ribs on the Energy Potential of Air-Based BIPV/T Envelope Systems

Abstract

Overheating in BIPV/T applications is a concern due to its negative impacts on the electrical conversion efficiency of the solar cells. Forced air cooling can be an effective thermal management strategy. However, its effectiveness is limited by the thermal resistance associated with the boundary layer formation on the walls of the air channel. The heat transfer effectiveness can be improved by appending transverse ribs to the BIPV/T air channel. This study numerically investigates the energy improvements associated with appending transverse ribs to a BIPV/T air channel using CFD. The impact of the varying the transverse rib roughness shape, pitch and height on the thermo-hydraulic performance parameter, electrical efficiency of the BIPV and building heating/cooling load is quantified. With the optimized transverse rib geometry, the heat removal rate is 2.73 times greater than with the smooth channel. This translated to a 30.5% reduction in the PV surface temperature and an increase in the electrical efficiency by 11.3% compared with the smooth channel under peak summer conditions for a mild oceanic climate. The wall heat gain during summer is also reduced by 45.2%.