Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm

Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226

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Energy and Buildings
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Energy saving in buildings by using the exhaust and ventilation air for cooling of
photovoltaic panels
A. Shahsavar, M. Salmanzadeh

, M. Ameri, P. Talebizadeh
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, P.O. Box 76175-133, Kerman, Iran
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 7 October 2010
Accepted 6 May 2011
Keywords:
Solar heat recovery
Exhaust and ventilation air
Building integrated photovoltaic-thermal
(BIPVT)
a b s t r a c t
A building integrated photovoltaic-thermal (BIPVT) setup has been developed for using the cooling poten-
tial of ventilation and exhaust airs in buildings for cooling the photovoltaic (PV) panels and also heating
the ventilation air by heat rejection of PV panels. The setup has been tested numerically for the Kerman
city located in Kerman province in the south of Iran. Results showed that, the exhaust and ventilation
airs in heating ventilating air conditioning systems can be used as the cooling uid of the PV panels and
increase their efciency. On the other hand, the heat rejection of the PV panels could provide some part
of the ventilation air heating load.
2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
Oil crisis, expensive cost of electricity and also air pollution
have been major driving forces for the researchers to be focused
on renewable sources of energy in buildings in recent years. One of
the most important renewable energy, which is accessible every-
where, is solar energy. Generally, solar systems can be classied
into two categories: thermal systems which convert solar energy
to thermal energy, and photovoltaic (PV) systems which convert
solar energy to electrical energy. Normally, both types of the col-
lectors are used separately. In solar-thermal systems, conventional
electrical energy is used to circulate working liquid through the
collector. The use of conventional electrical energy can be avoided
if combination of both types of thermal collector and photovoltaic
collector which is named hybrid collector or photovoltaic-thermal
collector (PV/T) is used. The PV/T collector produces thermal and
electrical energy simultaneously. PV/T systems can generate more
energy per unit surface area than side by side photovoltaic pan-
els and solar thermal collectors, at a potentially lower production
and installation cost. Because of their high efciency per unit sur-
face area, PV/T is particularly well suited for applications with
both heat and power demand and with limited roof space avail-
able.
Performance of hybrid PV/T systems has been studied both
experimentally and numerically by many researchers. Kern and
Russell [1] were the rst who gave the main concept of PV/T

Corresponding author. Tel.: +98 913 141 3523; fax: +98 341 212 0964.
E-mail addresses: msalmanz@clarkson.edu, mazyarsalmanzadeh@yahoo.com
(M. Salmanzadeh).
collector using water or air as the working uid. Florschuetz [2]
extended the HottelWhillier model to analyze the performance of
combined photovoltaic/thermal collectors. A linear decrease of cell
efciency withthe absorber temperature was assumed. Prakash[3]
studied the effect of air mass ow rate, air channel depth, length
and fraction of absorber plate area covered by solar cells (packing
factor) on performance of both air type and water type PV/T sys-
tems. He showed that water is more efcient than air in absorbing
heat from photovoltaic cells because of its thermophysical prop-
erties. Sopian et al. [4] analyzed the performance of single- and
double-pass PV/T air collectors and showed that the double-pass
conguration has better performance than the single-pass (typical)
conguration. Hegazy [5] carried out an extensive investigation of
the thermal, electrical, hydraulic and overall performances of at
plate PV/Tair collectors. He consideredfour popular designs of PV/T
air collectors and compared their analytical results and suggested
a suitable conguration for PV/T air system. Chow [6] introduced
an explicit dynamic model for analyzing a single-glazed at plate
water-type PV/Tcollector. His model is suitable for dynamic system
simulation applications. It allows detailed analysis of the transient
energy owacross various collector components and captures the
instantaneous energy outputs. Tiwari et al. [7] studied the thermal
performance of a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) air collec-
tor for New Delhi climate condition and concluded that an overall
thermal efciency of PV/T system is signicantly increased (18%)
due to utilization of thermal energy fromPV panel. Tonui and Tri-
panagnostopoulos [8,9] investigated the performance of two low
cost heat extraction improvement modications in the channel of
a PV/T air systemto achieve higher thermal output and PV cooling
so as to keep the electrical efciency at acceptable level. They sug-
gested the use of thin at metal sheet suspended at the middle or
0378-7788/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.05.003
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
2220 A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226
Nomenclature
A
ch
cross-sectional area of channel (m
2
)
C
p
specic heat capacity of air (J kg
1
K
1
)
D
H
hydraulic diameter (m)
E
fan
electrical power required for moving air through
channel (W)
E
net
net electrical effect of PV cooling
E
wc
electricity generation by PV panels in the case of
with cooling (W)
E
woc
electricity generation by PV panels in the case of
without cooling (W)
h
c
convection heat transfer in the air channel
(WK
1
m
2
)
h
r,pvs
radiation heat transfer between PV and sky
(WK
1
m
2
)
h
r,pvg
radiation heat transfer between PV and glass cover
(WK
1
m
2
)
h
r,pvb
radiation heat transfer between PV and back wall
(WK
1
m
2
)
h
w
wind convection heat transfer coefcient
(WK
1
m
2
)
I
r
solar radiation intensity (Wm
2
)
k thermal conductivity of air (Wm
1
K
1
)
k
ins
thermal conductivity of insulation material
(Wm
1
K
1
)
L length of the collector (m)
m
f
air mass owrate (kgs
1
)
p wetted perimeter of channel (m)
P pressure drop (m
3
s
1
)
Pr Prandth number
Q
pv
heat gain of air fromPV panels (W)
Q
r
ventilation air heating load (W)
Re Reynolds number
T
a
ambient temperature (K)
T
b
back wall temperature (K)
T
f
air temperature (K)
T
in
indoor design temperature (K)
T
mf
mean air temperature (K)
T
out
outlet air temperature (K)
T
pv
PV panel temperature (K)
T
pv-woc
PV panel temperature in the case of without cooling
(K)
T
s
sky temperature (K)
U
b
back heat loss coefcient (WK
1
m
2
)
v
w
wind velocity (ms
1
)
W width of the collector (m)
Greek symbols

pv
absorptance of PV panel

ins
thickness of insulation material (m)

b
,
pv
emissivity of back wall and PV panel, respectively

el-wc
conversion efciency of the PV panels in the case of
with cooling

el-woc
conversion efciency of PV panels in the case of
without cooling

f
fan efciency
density (kgm
3
)
StefanBoltzmann constant
(5.6710
8
Wm
2
K
4
)
nnedback wall of anair channel inthe PV/T air conguration. Both
experimental and theoretical results showed that the suggested
modications improve the performance of the PV/T air system.
Annual performance of building-integrated photovoltaic/water-
heating system for Hong Kong climates presented by Chow et al.
[10] and found that annual thermal and cell conversion efcien-
cies are 37.5% and 9.39%, respectively. Chow [11] gave a review
of the trend of development of the PV/T technology, in particular
the advancements in recent years and the future work required.
Shahsavar and Ameri [12] developed a simulation model for a
direct-coupled PV/T air collector. Their studied systemwas tested
in natural convection and forced convection (with two, four and
eight fans operating) and its unsteady results were presented in
with and without glass cover cases. They compared the electrical
performance of the different mode of operations and concluded
that there is an optimum number of fans for achieving maximum
electrical efciency. Also, results showedthat setting glass cover on
photovoltaic panels leads to an increase in thermal efciency and
decrease in electrical efciency of the system.
Building integrationis one of the most important applications of
the PV/T systems that can contribute in electrical power, heated air
andhot water demands of building. Althoughconsiderableresearch
has been conducted on theoretical and numerical modeling of
the PV/T collector performance, activities involving full simulation
of building integrated photovoltaic-thermal (BIPVT) systems are
limited in comparison. Chow et al. [13] studied the BIPVT applica-
tions in a subtropical hotel building. They described a comparative
study of three different options in applying large-scale building-
integrated PV technology in a coastal city at the South China Sea.
The results showed that the different design options exhibit short-
termelectrical performancedifferences, but havesimilar long-term
electricityyields. However, somedesignoptions performmuchbet-
ter in reducing the air-conditioning loads of the building. Chow
et al. [14] presented an experimental study of a centralized pho-
tovoltaic and hot water collector wall system that can serve as a
water pre-heating system. Different operating modes were per-
formed with measurements in different seasons. They showed that
natural water circulation is more preferable than forced circulation
in this hybrid solar collector system. Additionally, they found that
the thermal efciency is 38.9% at zero reduced temperature (i.e.
when the initial water temperature in the storage tank is as cold
as the mean ambient temperature on the day of measurement),
and the corresponding electricity conversion efciency is 8.56%,
during the late summer of Hong Kong. Anderson et al. [15] the-
oretically analyzed the performance of a BIPVT system by using
a modied HottelWhillier model. The results showed that key
design parameters such as the n efciency, the thermal conduc-
tivity between the PV cells and their supporting structure, and
the lamination method had a signicant inuence on both the
electrical and thermal efciency of the BIPVT. The performance
of BIPVT systems under cold climatic conditions is optimized by
Agrawal and Tiwari [16] from the energy and exergy point of
views. They determined the PV performances, net energy gain and
exergy of the building. The results show that for a constant mass
ow rate of air the system connected in series gives a better per-
formance whereas for a constant velocity of air ow the system
connected in parallel gives a better performance. Pantic et al. [17]
presented a theoretical and experimental study of energy per-
formance of three different open loop air heating BIPVT systems
that utilize recovered heat for house heating. They found suitable
congurations for preheating of air and domestic hot water and
also the one that is suitable for coupling with rock bed heat stor-
age.
Ventilation air, in heating ventilating air conditioning (HVAC)
systems is the amount of outdoor air required for an acceptable
level of indoor air quality. The ventilation air heating load takes
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226 2221
Fig. 1. The schematic diagramfor the studied BIPVT system.
considerable part of the building heating load in cold climate areas.
Heat recovery systems are commontools toreduce this energy con-
sumption. Solar energy could also be used for this ventilation air
heating. The PV systems have to reject more than three quarter of
receiving solar energy. This waste heat could be used for ventila-
tion air preheating. Cooling the PV systems by ventilation air has
bilateral effect. It will increase the efciency of PVsystems for elec-
tricity generation and on the other side decrease the required fuel
or electricity for heating the ventilation air. As the ventilation air is
supplied to the building, the excess air will be exhausted through
the exhaust system. This exhaust air has lower temperature than
the outdoor temperature during the summer in hot climate areas
that could be used for cooling the PV systems.
Exhaust air is the amount of air that should leave the building
to the atmosphere. This cooling potential can be used for PV panels
cooling to increase its electrical efciency.
Inthe present worka BIPVTsetuphas beensuggestedfor cooling
of photovoltaic panels by ventilation and exhaust air in winter and
summer seasons, respectively. The setup has been tested numeri-
cally for the Kerman city located in Kerman province in the south
of Iran which has relatively cold winters and hot summers. Accord-
ing to the Iranian meteorological organization (IMO), the annual
solar radiation in Kerman is about 7625MJ/m
2
and considerable
amount of its energy requirements may be obtained from solar
energy systems such as photovoltaic panels.
Contribution of solar energy in ventilation air heating and also
cooling effect of ventilation and exhaust air on the performance of
PV panels have been investigated at different months.
2. Systemdescription
The schematic diagram for the studied BIPVT system is shown
in Fig. 1. Its an all-air HVAC system with one air handling unit
(AHU). The discharge air of the return fan goes partly through the
exhaust duct to the ambient and the rest is mixed with the ventila-
tion air and then goes through the AHU to supply duct. Position of
the air dampers will guide the ventilation and exhaust airs through
Fig. 2. The schematic of the studied BIPVT systemwith heat transfer coefcients.
the correct paths during the winter and summer. The duct assem-
bled under the PV collector would be the passage of ventilation
and exhaust airs during the winter and summer, respectively. The
operationmode during the winter months is topre-heat the incom-
ing ventilation air prior to entering the air handling unit (AHU)
where it is heated to the required temperature before being pro-
vided to the building. Additionally, passing the fresh air under the
PV panels leads to their cooling and therefore increasing the elec-
trical performance of the PV panels. On the other hand, during the
summer months, the ambient air temperature is more than indoor
temperature, hence bypassingthe exhaust air throughthe air chan-
nels bellow the PV panels, the electrical performance is increased.
The investigated BIPVT system consists of 20 PV modules with a
total area of 10m
2
which is mounted at 30

(latitude of Kerman).
Dimensions of the duct under the PV modules, as air passage, are
2m0.3mand length of 5m.
3. Mathematical model
Fig. 2 shows the various heat transfer coefcients along the sur-
faces of the air duct under the PV panels. The assumptions to write
the energy balance equations are: (a) one dimensional steady-state
heat transfer; (b) negligible thermal capacities of the systemcom-
ponents except owing air; (c) convection heat transfer coefcient
between the PVpanels, the back insulation surface, and the owing
air are equal; (d) temperatures of the PVpanels and back insulation
surface are assumed to be uniform.
The energy balance equations of studied system, based on the
assumptions given above are as follows:
For PV panels:

pv
(1
el
)I
r
Wdx = (h
w
+h
r,pvs
)(T
pv
T
a
)Wdx
+h
c
(T
pv
T
f
)Wdx +h
r,pvb
(T
pv
T
b
)Wdx (1)
For air stream:
m
f
C
p
dT
f
= h
c
(T
pv
T
f
)Wdx +h
c
(T
b
T
f
)Wdx (2)
For back insulation surface:
h
r,pvb
(T
pv
T
b
)Wdx = U
b
(T
b
T
a
)Wdx +h
c
(T
b
T
f
)Wdx (3)
Eqs. (1)(3) canbecombinedtogivethefollowingdifferential equa-
tion:
dT
f
dx
+A
1
T
f
= A
2
(4)
where
A
1
=
h
c
W
m
f
C
p
(2 A
11
A
12
) (5a)
A
11
=
(hc +(h
r,pvb
hc /h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc ))/hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
1 (h
2
r,pvb
/(hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
)(h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc ))
(5b)
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
2222 A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226
A
12
=
h
r,pvb
((hc +(h
r,pvb
hc /(h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc )))/(hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
))/(1 (h
2
r,pvb
/(hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
)(h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc ))) +hc
h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc
(5c)
A
2
=
hc W
m
f
Cp
(A
21
+A
22
) (6a)
A
21
=
(
pv
(1
el
)I
r
+(h
w
+h
r,gs
)T
a
+(h
r,pvb
U
b
T
a
/h
r,pvb
+U
b
+h
c
)/h
w
+h
r,gs
+h
c
+h
r,pvb
)
(1 (h
2
r,pvb
/(h
w
+h
r,gs
+h
c
+h
r,pvb
)(h
r,pvb
+U
b
+h
c
)))
(6b)
A
22
=
h
r,pvb
((pv(1
el
)Ir +(hw +hr,gs)Ta +(h
r,pvb
U
b
Ta/h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc ))/hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
)/(1 (h
2
r,pvb
/(hw +hr,gs +hc +h
r,pvb
)(h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc ))) +U
b
Ta
h
r,pvb
+U
b
+hc
(6c)
The boundary condition is as follows
T
f
(x = 0) = T
a
(7)
The solution of Eq. (4) with the help of boundary condition is:
T
f
(x) =
_
T
a

A
2
A
1
_
e
A
1
x
+
A
2
A
1
(8)
Hence, the outlet air temperature is calculated using:
T
out
= T
f
(L) =
_
T
a

A
2
A
1
_
e
A
1
L
+
A
2
A
1
(9)
The mean air temperature along the air channel belowPV panels is
obtained as
T
mf
=
1
L
_
L
0
T
f
(x)dx =
_
T
a

A
2
A
1
_
1
A
1
(1 e
A
1
L
) +
A
2
A
1
L (10)
After knowing the mean air temperature fromthe above equation,
the temperature of the PV panels and back insulation wall can be
obtained by using the following equations:
T
pv
= A
21
+A
11
T
mf
(11)
T
b
= A
22
+A
12
T
mf
(12)
The heat transfer coefcients are required to be calculated for using
in the above equations. They are discussed in the following section.
4. Estimation of heat transfer coefcients
4.1. Heat loss coefcient
The bottom loss coefcient accounts for the conduction losses
through the back insulation of the solar collector and is given by:
U
b
=
k
ins

ins
(13)
where k
ins
and
ins
are the thermal conductivity and thickness of
the insulation material, respectively.
4.2. Convection heat transfer coefcients
The average convection heat transfer coefcient due to wind
was used on the outside surface of the glass cover [18]:
h
w
= 2.8 +3v
w
(14)
where v
w
is the wind velocity.
The forced convective heat transfer coefcient (h
c
) between the
turbulent airow and both the PV panel and the back insulation
wall is calculated by the following correlation [19] which is used
by [8]
h
c
=
k
D
H
.
_
0.0182Re
0.8
Pr
0.4
_
1 +S
D
H
L
__
(15)
S = 14.3log(L/D
H
) 7.9 for 0 <L/D
H
60
= 17.5 for L/D
H
>60
(16)
wherekis thethermal conductivityof theair andD
H
is thehydraulic
diameter of the channel. If A
ch
andp are the cross-sectional area and
the wetted perimeter of the channel, respectively, then [20]:
D
H
=
4A
ch
p
(17)
4.3. Radiation heat transfer coefcient
The radiation heat transfer coefcient between the PV panels
and the environment can be dened as [18]:
h
r,pvs
=
pv
(T
4
pv
T
4
s
)
T
pv
T
a
(18)
The equivalent sky temperature is evaluatedby the following equa-
tion [18]:
T
s
= 0.0552T
1.5
a
(19)
The radiative heat transfer coefcient in the air cavities is
determinedusingthelinearizedcoefcient fromStefanBoltzmann
equation [18]:
h
r,pvb
= (T
pv
+T
b
)(T
2
pv
+T
2
b
)
_
1

pv
+
1

b
1
_
1
(20)
5. Evaluation of performance parameters
Inorder to study the performance of BIPVT system, ve different
parameters are considered.
The rst one is the heatingloadof the freshair requiredfor HVAC
system:
Q
r
= m
f
C
p
(T
in
T
a
) (21)
where T
in
is the indoor design temperature, which is assumed
22.5

C based on the comfort zone [21]. The ambient temperature,

T
a
, is variable based on month and time of the day. The related data
of Kerman city has been used.
The secondone is the rate of thermal energywhichis transferred
to the passing air fromPV panels and dened as:
Q
pv
= m
f
C
p
(T
f
(L) T
a
) (22)
The third one is the rate of electrical energy produced by PV panels
in the case of without cooling:
E
woc
=
pv

elwoc
I
r
WL (23)
where
elwoc
is the conversion efciency of the PV panels in the
case of without cooling and is dened as follows [2],

elwoc
= 0.125(1 0.006(T
pvwoc
298)) (24)
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226 2223
Table 1
Comparison PV and outlet air temperature with that of Ref. [23].
Time Ir(W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Tpv(

C) Tout (

C)
Present
work
[23] e (%) Present
work
[23] e (%)
10:00 464 30.8 42.5 43 1.13 32 33 3.17
11:00 618 31.9 47.8 49.4 3.19 52.7 53.3 1.15
12:00 698 32 49.4 51.8 4.67 35.2 35.6 1.23
13:00 706 33.4 54.2 56 3.29 36.4 37.6 3.18
14:00 704 34.7 57.4 58.4 1.74 38.1 39.2 2.87
15:00 660 35.9 59 60.3 2.13 39.6 40.9 3.13
In the case of without cooling, the PV panel temperature is dened
by [18]:
T
pvwoc
=
_
I
r
I
r,NOCT
_
(T
pv,NOCT
T
a,NOCT
) +T
a
(25)
where I
r,NOCT
is radiation intensity, T
pv,NOCT
is PV panel tempera-
ture and T
a,NOCT
is ambient temperature at the nominal operating
cell temperature and their values are 800W/m
2
, 46

C and 20

C,
respectively.
The forth parameter is the rate of electrical energy produced by
PV panels in the case of with cooling:
E
wc
=
pv

elwc
I
r
WL (26)
where

elwc
= 0.125(1 0.006(T
pv
298)) (27)
The fth parameter is fan power required for moving the air
through channel bellow the PV panels which can be calculated by
the following equation:
E
fan
=
( m
f
/)P

fan
(28)
where
fan
is the fan efciency and a constant value of 0.5 has been
used. This is a combination of electrical and mechanical efciencies
of the fan. P is the pressure drop experienced by the air stream
passing through the air channel which is calculated based on con-
ventional duct sizing equations [22] and it is changing as the ow
rate varies.
6. Results and discussion
6.1. Validation
In this section, the one-day measured data collected by Tonui
andTripanagnostopoulos [23] from10:00to15:00havebeeninves-
tigated numerically by our developed numerical model. The PV
Fig. 3. The effect of air mass ow rate on the fresh air required heating load for
January.
Fig. 4. The effect of air mass ow rate on the rate of transferred thermal energy to
the passing air by PV panels for January.
panels are cooled by the air passing through the channel under the
panels. The PVpanel and the outlet air temperatures have been cal-
culated and compared with the correlated experimental ones [23]
in Table 1. For more clarication the percentage of standard devia-
tion error (e) for each time step is presented in Table 1. It is clearly
seen that there is a good consistency between the numerical model
and experimental results.
6.2. Simulation results
Cooling of the PV panels by ventilation or exhaust air has been
investigated during the day-light time of one day in each month
of the year. Based on the outdoor air temperature, October to
March are assumed cold months (outdoor temperature is lower
than indoor temperature) and the ventilation air passes through
the duct under PV panels as the cooling air and for April to Septem-
ber (indoor temperature is lower than outdoor temperature) the
exhaust air passes as the cooling air. The considered weather con-
ditions are presented in Appendix A based on the Kerman Weather
Organization report.
Different air mass ow rates have been tested. Figs. 35 show
the variation of ventilation air heating load, heat gain of air from
PV panels and the electricity generation by PV panels, respectively,
versus the air mass owrate for the January. As the mass owrate
increased ten times, the heat gain of air increased by 39.66% and
the PV panel electricity production increased by 3.57%. It is primi-
tive that by increasing the mass ow rate, all the three mentioned
parameters increase, but on the other side extra energy is required
to move the air against the duct friction when the mass ow
rate increases and electrical energy is required for that purpose.
Fig. 5. The effect of air mass ow rate on the rate of electrical energy produced by
PV panels for January.
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
2224 A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226
Fig. 6. Effect of air mass owrateonthenet electrical effect of PVcoolingfor January.
1.71
1.94
2.05
2.17
2.22 2.22
2.17 2.17
1.94
2.05
1.71
1.65
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
O
p
t
i
m
u
m

a
i
r

m
a
s
s

f
l
o
w

r
a
t
e

(
K
g
/
s
)
Fig. 7. The optimumair mass owrate (fresh or exhaust) for each month of year.
Therefore the net electrical effect of the PV cooling can be deter-
mined by the following equation:
E
net
= E
wc
E
woc
E
fan
(29)
The rate of fresh air (or exhaust air for summer) is optimumwhen
the net electrical effect of the PV cooling (E
net
) is maximum. Vari-
ation of the net electrical effect of the PV cooling versus the mass
ow rate of fresh air for January is shown in Fig. 6. It can be seen
that at certain value of mass owrate, E
net
is maximum. The same
procedure has been done to nd the optimumair quantity for each
month of the year and the results are presented in Fig. 7.
Based on the calculated optimumair mass owrates, contribu-
tion of solar energy in providing energy for ventilation air heating
during the cold months, the cooling effect of this ventilation air and
also the cooling effect of the exhaust air on the electrical efciency
of the PV panels have been studied. Figs. 810 show the related
results. As, Fig. 8 shows, March has the maximum and October
has the minimum solar energy contribution in providing energy
for ventilation air heating. This solar contribution has the value
of 10.2% on the average basis. From Fig. 9 it can be deduced that
cooling effect of the ventilation air on PV panels could increase
the electricity production, the average value of 7.15% and for the
exhaust air, Fig. 10, this average value is 10.1%.
Table 2 shows the total amount of kWh (monthly summation)
related to net electrical effect of the PV cooling (E
net
) and pro-
vided solar energy for ventilation air heating (Q
pv
). By using the
cooling potential of ventilation air and exhaust air for the tested
BIPVT system with 10m
2
surface area, the yearly total amount
of 178.2kWh electrical and 3400.4kWh thermal energy could be
saved.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
H
e
a
t
i
n
g

l
o
a
d

(
k
W
h
)
Qr Qpv
Fig. 8. Daily (day-light) fresh air heating load and solar energy contribution for
October to March.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
(
k
W
h
)
p
a
n
e
l
s
P
V
b
y
p
r
o
d
u
c
e
d
e
n
e
r
g
y
E
l
e
c
t
r
i
c
a
l
Ewoc Ewc
Fig. 9. Daily (day-light) electrical energy production by PV panels with and without
cooling for October to March (cooling by ventilation air).
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep
)
h
W
k
(
s
l
e
n
a
p
V
P
y
b
d
e
c
u
d
o
r
p
y
g
r
e
n
e
l
a
c
i
r
t
c
e
l
E
Ewoc Ewc
Fig. 10. Daily(day-light) electrical energyproductionbyPVpanels withandwithout
cooling for April to September (cooling by exhaust air).
Table 2
Total kWh of energy savings.
October to March April to September
Enet (kWh) 54.7 123.5
Qpv(kWh) 3400.4
7. Conclusions
A BIPVTsetuphas beendevelopedfor usingthe coolingpotential
of ventilationandexhaust airs inbuildings for cooling the PVpanels
and also heating the ventilation air by heat rejection of PV panels.
The setup has been tested numerically for the Kerman city located
Journal Identication = ENB Article Identication = 3211 Date: July 19, 2011 Time: 7:38pm
A. Shahsavar et al. / Energy and Buildings 43 (2011) 22192226 2225
in Kerman province in the south of Iran. The following conclusions
have been achieved:

The optimumair mass owrates (ventilation or exhaust) for the

cooling of the PV panels have been found for all months during a
year to have a maximumnet electrical effect of the PV panels.

Using exhaust air, as the cooling uid, for cooling of a PV panel

with10m
2
surface area, increasedelectricity productionwiththe
amount of 10.1% that caused 129.2kWh extra electrical energy
production during a year.

Using ventilation air, as the cooling uid, for cooling of a PVpanel

with the 10m
2
surface area provided 10.2% of the ventilation air
heating load and also increased the PV panel electricity produc-
tionwiththeamount of 7.2%. Onayearlybasis 3400.4kWh energy
recovered through the ventilation air heating by solar energy and
55.9kWh extra electricity generated by PV panels.
Appendix A. Considered weather conditions for Kerman
Hour January February March April
Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C)
00 0.0 2.2 0.0 0.4 0.0 5.7 0.0 11.3
01 0.0 3.1 0.0 1.3 0.0 4.8 0.0 10.4
02 0.0 4.0 0.0 2.2 0.0 3.9 0.0 9.5
03 0.0 4.7 0.0 2.9 0.0 3.2 0.0 8.8
04 0.0 5.3 0.0 3.4 0.0 2.7 0.0 8.2
05 0.0 5.4 0.0 3.6 0.0 2.5 0.0 8.1
06 0.0 5.1 0.0 3.3 8.0 2.9 81.2 8.4
07 15.9 4.2 59.7 2.4 163.9 3.7 289.5 9.3
08 159.1 2.6 255.0 0.8 388.7 5.3 500.1 10.9
09 342.3 0.3 454.1 1.5 579.0 7.7 669.8 13.2
10 483.8 2.4 599.8 4.2 716.9 10.3 792.2 15.9
11 564.4 5.4 685.2 7.2 796.1 13.3 855.3 18.9
12 581.2 8.2 705.9 10.1 809.7 16.2 858.4 21.7
13 533.6 10.4 660.1 12.2 756.9 18.3 801.9 23.9
14 423.1 11.8 551.4 13.6 641.7 19.7 685.3 25.3
15 256.6 12.3 383.6 14.2 472.6 20.3 520.2 25.8
16 77.5 11.8 173.8 13.6 255.8 19.7 313.4 25.3
17 0.0 10.6 14.8 12.4 53.6 18.5 99.8 24.1
18 0.0 8.6 0.0 10.4 0.0 16.5 0.0 22.1
19 0.0 6.3 0.0 8.1 0.0 14.2 0.0 19.8
20 0.0 4.0 0.0 5.8 0.0 11.9 0.0 17.5
21 0.0 2.0 0.0 3.9 0.0 10.0 0.0 15.5
22 0.0 0.2 0.0 2.1 0.0 8.2 0.0 13.7
23 0.0 1.2 0.0 0.7 0.0 6.8 0.0 12.3
Hour May June July August
Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C)
00 0.0 16.6 0.0 20.1 0.0 21.8 0.0 21.8
01 0.0 15.8 0.0 19.3 0.0 20.9 0.0 20.9
02 0.0 14.9 0.0 18.4 0.0 20.0 0.0 20.0
03 0.0 14.2 0.0 17.7 0.0 19.3 0.0 19.3
04 0.0 13.6 0.0 17.1 0.0 18.8 0.0 18.8
05 5.5 13.4 9.6 16.9 0.4 18.6 0.0 18.6
06 144.4 13.8 151.0 17.3 117.0 19.0 73.3 19.0
07 354.8 14.7 355.8 18.2 320.2 19.9 273.6 19.9
08 548.8 16.3 544.8 19.8 515.3 21.5 480.0 21.5
09 706.2 18.6 699.7 22.1 675.6 23.8 647.8 23.8
10 817.6 21.3 810.9 24.8 793.0 26.4 770.3 26.4
11 871.2 24.3 866.1 27.8 854.4 29.5 835.3 29.5
12 872.0 27.1 870.7 30.6 862.9 32.3 842.0 32.3
13 820.0 29.3 826.2 32.8 820.9 34.4 791.1 34.4
14 710.2 30.7 725.6 34.2 722.2 35.9 681.3 35.9
15 553.9 31.2 578.0 34.7 575.3 36.4 523.3 36.4
16 360.9 30.7 395.5 34.2 391.8 35.9 325.0 35.9
17 150.0 29.4 189.5 32.9 184.0 34.6 114.3 34.6
18 7.4 27.5 27.7 31.0 22.9 32.7 0.0 32.7
19 0.0 25.2 0.0 28.7 0.0 30.3 0.0 30.3
20 0.0 22.9 0.0 26.4 0.0 28.0 0.0 28.0
21 0.0 20.9 0.0 24.4 0.0 26.1 0.0 26.1
22 0.0 19.1 0.0 22.6 0.0 24.3 0.0 24.3
23 0.0 17.7 0.0 21.2 0.0 22.9 0.0 22.9
Hour September October November December
Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C) Ir (W/m
2
) Ta(

C)
00 0.0 18.9 0.0 12.9 0.0 7.8 0.0 0.7
01 0.0 18.0 0.0 12.0 0.0 6.9 0.0 0.2
02 0.0 17.1 0.0 11.1 0.0 6.0 0.0 1.1
03 0.0 16.4 0.0 10.4 0.0 5.3 0.0 1.8
04 0.0 15.8 0.0 9.9 0.0 4.7 0.0 2.3
05 0.0 15.7 0.0 9.7 0.0 4.6 0.0 2.5
06 32.7 16.0 6.0 10.1 0.0 4.9 0.0 2.1
07 214.8 16.9 148.1 11.0 61.8 5.8 18.0 1.3
08 428.2 18.5 353.9 12.6 234.9 7.4 154.5 0.3
09 599.4 20.8 524.5 14.9 404.7 9.7 323.8 2.7
10 719.1 23.5 638.2 17.5 520.9 12.4 451.3 5.3
11 779.6 26.5 690.6 20.6 575.3 15.4 518.3 8.3
12 775.8 29.4 678.1 23.4 565.8 18.2 521.9 11.2
13 708.0 31.5 601.5 25.5 493.0 20.4 462.0 13.3
14 582.0 32.9 465.6 27.0 359.3 21.8 340.8 14.7
15 405.0 33.4 276.0 27.5 179.8 22.3 173.9 15.3
16 189.5 32.9 78.3 27.0 26.6 21.8 28.1 14.7
17 19.7 31.7 0.0 25.7 0.0 20.6 0.0 13.5
18 0.0 29.7 0.0 23.8 0.0 18.6 0.0 11.5
19 0.0 27.4 0.0 21.5 0.0 16.3 0.0 9.2
20 0.0 25.1 0.0 19.1 0.0 14.0 0.0 6.9
21 0.0 23.1 0.0 17.2 0.0 12.0 0.0 5.0
22 0.0 21.4 0.0 15.4 0.0 10.2 0.0 3.2
23 0.0 19.9 0.0 14.0 0.0 8.8 0.0 1.8
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