Japanese Photovoltaic Curtain Wall Prototype Building

The present study documents the design, development and testing of a BIPV/T curtain wall prototype, featuring several thermal enhancing techniques that have been deemed suitable for building integration purposes.

This study presented the design, development and testing of a novel BIPV/T curtain wall prototype. The developed system has the potential for prefabrication and modularization, and it is intended as a complete building envelope solution. The design of the prototype was based on structural, architectural and building envelope requirements.

A BIPV/T curtain wall prototype was studied experimentally in an indoor solar simulator facility. Thermal enhancement techniques, including multiple inlets, semi-transparent instead of opaque PV and a newly introduced flow deflector were evaluated. Test results showed a thermal efficiency of up to 33%.

The prototype itself served as a platform to implement the curtain wall design principle and investigate inexpensive and easy to implement thermal enhancements, suitable for building integrated systems. The flow rates used (normalized by the area of the assembly) were selected based on existing full-scale BIPV/T applications [23, 33].

The curtain wall technology shows significant potential for standardized, easy to construct BIPV/T systems which also allows for design flexibility (incorporation of skylights and daylight elements). The authors have laid the groundwork for technology adoption using components and techniques familiar to building design professionals.

Building integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) systems further introduce the element of heat recovery, which can be utilized in various ways to improve the performance and/or reduce the size of the building's HVAC system. BIPV/T systems employ the concept of hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collectors [5, 6] onto large building surfaces.