Mohamed Elsayed Abdelaty Elsayed Ahmed
Lecturer
Thermal and optical investigations of various transparent wall configurations and building integrated photovoltaic for energy savings in buildings
Energy Conversion and Management • 2024
Publication Information
Authors
Youssef A Marei, Mohamed Emam, Mohamed EAE Ahmed, Ahmed AA Attia, MA Abdelrahman
Keywords
Building energy saving; Building integrated photovoltaic;Façade;Cadmium telluride;Lighting system;Cooling loads;CFD simulation.
Journal
Energy Conversion and Management
Publisher
Elsevier
Volume
299
Issue
Not Available
Pages
117817
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
The growing global attention on energy consumption in buildings, along with the harmful effects of carbon dioxide emissions on climate change, has recently heightened efforts on sustainability and energy savings in buildings. As a result, the search for high thermal resistance walls, as well as the development of integrated photovoltaic technology with front glass walls to save energy in buildings, is an important and promising topic. The current study investigates and compares the energy-saving capabilities of four building transparent wall configurations: basic glass, facade, basic glass integrated with photovoltaics, and facade integrated with photovoltaics at different ambient temperatures, wind speeds, and solar radiation. The study also introduces a comprehensive three-dimensional heat transfer and electrical model that combines a Steady-State Thermal solution with the ANSYS mechanical solver and a fluid flow solution with the ANSYS Fluent solver to simulate the full layers of Cadmium Telluride solar cells, transparent walls, and the air conditioning room. Each model was subjected to a full-day simulation using Egypt weather conditions in the summer season to evaluate the efficacy in terms of saving artificial lighting loads, thermal loads for air conditioning, daily electricity generation from Cadmium Telluride solar cells, and total energy savings throughout the day. According to the findings, the facade integrated with photovoltaics and basic glass integrated with photovoltaics configurations deliver about 394 Wh/m2 of electrical energy to the building daily. Furthermore, when air conditioning and lighting loads, as well as solar cell productivity, are considered, the facade, basic glass integrated with photovoltaics, and facade integrated with photovoltaics configurations save 46.9%, 31.5%, and 79.3% of total electricity consumption, respectively, when compared to the basic glass wall.
