Thermal Modeling for Building Integrating Ventilated PV Facade

Li Mei, David Infield

CREST, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Loughborough University,
Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3TU, UK, Tel: 44 1509 228145, Fax: 44 1509 610031 ,
l.mei@lboro.ac.uk
Ursula Eicker, Volker Fux
Department of Building Physics, Hochschule fr Technik,
Schellingstr.24, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany

Summary
To assess the potential of ventilated PV faades and solar air collectors integrated into
buildings a dynamic thermal building model has been developed and validated against
experimental data from the PV faade of the Mataro public library, near Barcelona. The
thermal building model consists of three major components which are: the PV faade
(comprising a PV panel, air gap and inner double glazing), the solar air collectors
incorporated into upper part of the faade and a single zone building model. Preheating of
the ventilated air within the faade air gap is due to irradiation through heating of the PV
panel and heat transmission from the interior. These combined heat gains will contribute to
building heating system during the winter. The heating and cooling loads for the building with
such faade and with a conventional faade for three locations in European were estimated.

Introduction
Integrating photovoltaic into a building faade represents significant progress in solar
applications. In this configuration it is not only acts a renewable source of electricity, but
also as a contribution to building heating and cooling. The authors have recently completed
an EC project which built on the experience gained with the ventilated photovoltaic faade on
the Mataro public library, near Barcelona [1][2]. This project has taken the issue of building
integration an important step further. In particular, dedicated solar air collectors have been
incorporated into the upper part of the faade in order to provide air heated to a temperature
sufficient for direct space heating purposes. In order to achieve good heat transfer within the
faade and solar collectors and also to reduce the PV panels operating temperature, forced
convention is used as stack effect/buoyancy driven flow rates are limited.
To analyse the thermal performance of such building, a dynamic thermal building model
incorporating a ventilated PV faade and solar air collectors has been developed. This
building model was realised via the simulation program TRNSYS [3] and has been
demonstrated to be accurate. This paper presents the thermal building model which
incorporates the sub-models of PV faade and air collectors. Using this building simulation
model, an assessment of the ventilated PV faade has been undertaken.

Thermal Building Model

The Mataro library building is a rectangular shaped building, oriented with the PV faade
facing south. The windows, roof and non-south facing walls are each of a common
construction.
The completed thermal building model consists of three main components: the ventilated PV
faade; the flat solar air collectors; and the single zone building model. Although the solar air

collectors are physically incorporated into the upper part of the faade, in thermal modelling
terms, they were treated separately.

Air outlet

AC unit

Air collector

PV panel

Inside space
Double
glazing

Air inlet

Fig.1 PV faade structure

Fig. 1 shows the PV faade construction. The steady state energy for this part of the faade
are:
!

for PV panel: Gp Up(Tp Ta) hcp(Tp Tm) hr(Tp Tg) QE = 0

(1)

for double glazing: Gg Ug(Tg Ti) hcg(Tg Tm) hr(Tg Tp) = 0

(2)

for air flow rate in the gap: hcp(Tp Tm) + hcg(Tg Tm) = mC p

dT m
dx

(3)

where Gp and Gg are the solar radiation observed by the PV panels and the window double
glazing (W/m2); QE is the electrical power rates generated by the PV panels (W/m2); Up and
Ug are the thermal transmittance between the PV panel to ambient and the double glazing to
room space (W/m2K) (convection plus radiation); hcp and hcg are the convective heat transfer
coefficients of the PV panel and the double glazing to the air gap (W/m2K); hr is the longwave
radiation heat exchange coefficient between the PV panel and the double glazing window
(W/m2K); Ta, Ti, Tp, Tg and Tm are the temperatures of ambient, room space, PV panel, glass
window and the air in the air gap, respectively; m is the air flow rate in the air gap (kg/s); Cp is
the air heat capacity (kJ/kg K). The temperature gradient of the gap air is refered to the gap
height, x.
Based on the concept of this steady state model, the dynamical thermal model of the PV
faade can be taken into account via the thermal capacity of the materials of the different
layers of the faade. A transient one-dimensional thermal sub-model has been developed
and implemented in the programming language Delphi. This sub-model can be used to
simulate the thermal performance of faade with and without forced convection. The
temperature levels at each layer of the structure can be calculated together withthe thermal
energy gain through ventilation gap. The software code for this model has been complied as
a DLL (Dynamical Link Library) and can easily be used in building simulation packages such
as TRNSYS.
The standard thermal model for solar air collectors, as incorporated into the upper facade is
expressed by the following equations [4]:

FR U L ( T i , c - T a )
Qu
=
= FR ()
GT
GT Ac
(4)
and

To ,c =

Qu
+Ti ,c
mC p

(5)

where is the collector efficiency; Qu is the total useful energy; GT, the solar radiation
incident on the collector (W/m2); Ac, the effective collector surface area (m2); FR, the overall
collector heat removal efficiency factor; UL, the overall heat loss coefficient of the collector
(W/m2K); and Ti,c, To,c, the temperatures of the air collector inlet and outlet, respectively. It is
noted that the inlet air temperature of the solar air collector, Ti,c is the outlet air temperature
of the ventilated PV facade. The back of the solar air collector is assumed to be perfectly
insulated from the interior of the room.
Experimentally, collector test results are often presented as a linear plot of versus (Ti,c
Ta)/GT with a intercept a (=FR()) and slope b (=FRUL). When the values a and b are
known, this linear efficiency model can be used to calculate the collector useful energy and
the outlet air temperature. In the modelling, the heat gain from the solar air collector is
assumed to be directly transferred into the building space for winter season, whilst during
summer it is assumed to be vented directly to ambient.
The thermal building model is based on the ASHRAE transfer function method [5] and for
simplicity is considered as a single zone. The hourly heat gain through the building
walls/roof to the indoor air can be calculated as:
Qz =

(bt Tsa ,t chTeq,t ) d t Qz ,t

t =0

(6)

t =1

where t is the time interval; t = 0, represents the current time; t = 1, previous hour, and so
on. The bt, ct and dt are the transfer function coefficients. These transfer function coefficients
are determined by the thermo-physical properties of the individual layers of the construction.
Tsa is the solar air temperature which is calculated according to the convective and radiant
heat transfer occurring on the external surfaces. Since the surfaces are at the different
orientations they will receive different solar radiation intensities. Teq is an equivalent zone
temperature which involves the actual internal space air temperature plus the surface
temperatures affected by longwave and shortwave radiation exchange within the zone. Qz is
the heat gain through the wall, ceiling and floor to the inside building space via the
corresponding transfer function coefficients.
For the windows installed on the walls, the thermal conduction through the window from
ambient is given as:
Qw = AwUw (Ta Teq)

(7)

where Uw is the reciprocal of the sum of the resistances of the window, outside air and inside
air.

The ventilation and infiltration gains to the room inside are calculated at the design ventilation
rate of 9000m3/hr:
Qvent = Cp mvent(Ta TZ)

(8)

and
Qinfl = Cp minf (Ta TZ)

(9)

where
minf = aV (0.1 + 0.023| Ta TZ| + 0.07W)

(10)

The coefficients for the infiltration flow rate are taken from the ASHRAE Handbook of
Fundamentals [5]. The building volume, V is 12509m3; W is the external wind speed.
Since the PV faade together with the solar air collectors occupies the whole south side of
the building, the PV faade is considered as a special wall [4] for heat gain and loss through
the faade layers to the building space. This means that the convective heat from the inner
glass surface of the PV faade to the room space is determined by:
QPV = hi (Tg Teq)

(11)

where QPV is the heat gain or loss through the faade, hi is the convection coefficient at the
inner glass of the faade.
The single zone model together with the ventilated PV faade and the solar air collector
models form a completed thermal building model. Simulations using this building model
have been performed and validated.

Model Simulation and Comparison with Measured Data

The complete Mataro building model has been assembled within the TRNSYS simulation
environment. The climate data used in the simulations including the total horizontal
radiation, ambient air temperature and wind speed, etc. are taken from the monitoring
system installed at Mataro. The diffuse and beam radiation on the different orientation
surfaces are calculated by a solar processor model based on the Liu and Jordans methods
[3] as implemented within the TRNSYS.
In the simulation, the transmittance-absorptance product for PV panel has been fixed as 0.8.
This means that 80% of the incident radiation on the opaque part of the vertical surface of
the faade is absorbed and converted into either electricity or thermal energy at PV panel.
In parallel, the semi-transparency of the PV panel allows 15% of the shortwave radiation
passing directly through the PV panel and the double glazed window. The efficiency of the
PV panel is assumed in the simulation to be constant at 10.25% .
The outputs of the thermal building model have been compared with the measured data from
Mataro Library. Two sets of measured temperatures during two unoccupied periods were
used to compare the simulated results. These were selected because during the unoccupied
time the HVAC plant is not working and there is no additional thermal energy supplied to the
room. Since the comparison is performed in the summer season the heated air from air
collector is vented to the exterior rather than to the building interior. In these circumstances,
the building performance is determined only by the incident solar radiation and ambient
environment (ambient temperature and wind speed).

Fig.2 shows the measured room temperature together with the simulated temperature during
the period of 01/08/1999 to 03/08/1999. Fig.3 illustrates the same variables but for
04/09/1999 to 05/09/1999.

Temperature (C)

Zone Temperature
33
31
29
27
25
23
21
19
17
15
5090

simulated
measured

5100

5110

5130

5140

5150

hours (01/08/1999 - 03/08/1999)

Fig.2 Room temperature comparison for August

Temperature (C)

Zone Temperature
33
31
29
27
25
23
21
19
17
15
5905

simulated
measured

5917

5929

5941

hours (04/09/1999 - 05/09/1999)

Fig. 3 Room temperature comparison for September

It can be seen that the simulated room temperature fluctuations are very close to the
measured data. However, the modelled transient response is very slightly slower than as
indicated by the measured temperature. This reflects the approximate value of the lumped
thermal capacity used in the zone temperature calculation.

Predicting the Cooling and Heating Loads Using the Thermal Building Model
Prediction of heating and cooling loads is straightforward using the developed thermal
building model. Taking into account an internal heat gain of 6000kW from people and
electrical equipment, an assumed heating or cooling energy is supplied to the building inside
to satisfy the room temperature requirement for the heating and cooling seasons,
respectively. In this way, the assumed heating and cooling loads are estimated.

The temperature set-points for heating and cooling seasons are determined as for the actual
building plant control at Mataro, ie:
!
!
!

heating season: occupied time 20oC; unoccupied time 17oC;

cooling season: occupied and unoccupied time 26oC;
weekend days are unoccupied time;

Moreover, to take advantage of the ventilated faade, the forced ventilator should be
operated according to optimal control strategies which reflect the different conditions
occurring during heating and cooling seasons. The ON/OFF ventilator control which has
been modelled is described as:
!

Winter condition (occupied time): if the faade temperature is 5oC higher than the
outside temperature, the ventilator is ON and the pre-heated ventilated air is directed
to the air conditioning unit, where it can be used for building heating.

Winter condition (unoccupied time): if the faade temperature is 5oC higher than the
room temperature, the ventilator is ON and the pre-heated ventilated air is directed to
the air conditioning unit.

Summer condition: if faade temperature is higher than 38oC, the ventilator is ON and
the ventilated air is vented directly to the exterior for faade cooling purpose.

Since continuous measurements from the Mataro library spanning a whole year are not
available, weather data generated using the proprietary code, METEONORM [6] has been
used in the heating and cooling loads estimation. Time dependent hourly data sets including
global horizontal radiation, ambient temperature and wind velocity have been created using
METEONORM for three locations of Stuttgart, Loughborough and Barcelona, respectively, in
order to assume the performance of the PV ventilated faade concept for different EU
climates.

35

350

30

300

25

250

20

200

15

150

10

100

50

0
25

49

73

97

Power (kW)

Temperature (C)

Fig.4 and Fig.5 provide a snapshot of the room temperature and the corresponding ambient
temperature variations for Barcelona during January and August, respectively. In Fig.4
(heating season), the last two days cover the weekend, and the room temperature is thus
allowed to be higher than the setpoint of 17oC. No heating energy is thus required for these
days. The other five days are the occupied period and the room temperature is kept at the
setpoint level by the heating system.

121 145 169

Hours(02 - 08,Jan,1999)
Zone Temperature

Ambient Temperature

Heating Power

Fig. 4 Estimated room temperature

30

80

25

60

20

40

15

20

Power (kW)

Temperature (C)

In Fig.5 (cooling season), the supplied cooling power must keep the room temperature at
26oC during both occupied and unoccupied periods. Ofcourse, if the room temperature is
lower than the set-point, cooling power is not required. Consequntly, there is no cooling
power supplied during the night time period.

10
0
5089 5113 5137 5161 5185 5209 5233 5257
Hours (01- 07,Aug,1999)
Room Temperature

Ambient Temperature

Cooling Power

Fig. 5 Estimated room temperature

Simulations for Stuttgart and Loughborough have been carried out based on METEONORM
weather data for these two locations. By integrating the heating and cooling power from the
simulations, the annual heating and cooling loads have been estimated for Mataro library
building if it were located in Barcelona, Stuttgart and Loughborough. Note that no changes
were made to the building or control specifications. This was to enable a comparison of
operational performance in these different climates. In reality marginally different levels of
insulation and plant design would apply.
Fig.6 and Fig.7 show the annual heating/cooling loads calculated using the building
simulation model for the three locations and for the basic Mataro design, both with the
ventilated PV faade, and with a conventional brick and window south wall in place of the PV
facade. The conventional south wall option was modelled as having 15% window area (U
value = 4W/m2.K ). The results reflect the climatic conditions: as expected, for the coldest
climate (Stuttgart) the heating load is highest, whereas for the hottest location (Barcelona),
there is a higher cooling requirement.
Heating Loads Comparison
350000

318976 307742

Energy (kWh)

300000

276470 274065

250000
200000
150000

111036 125656

with facade
with brick wall

100000
50000
0
Stuttgart

Lboro

Barcelona

Location

Fig. 6 Annual heating load comparison

Cooling loads comparison

60000
Energy (kWh)

51546

50000

46278

40000
with facade
with brick wall

30000
20000

13920 11998

10000

3293

1492

0
Stuttgart

Lboro

Barcelona

Location

Fig. 7 Annual cooling load comparison

It also can be seen that the ventilated PV faade seems not to make a larger heating
contribution to the building in colder climate areas of Stuttgart and Loughborough, as might
have been expected. This is because the PV faade exhibits a larger heat loss coefficient
than the conventional brick wall. The higher heat loss from PV faade is not fully
compensated for by the pre-heating of useful ventilated air. In Barcelona, 12% of the heating
energy can be saved using the ventilated heat gain over the winter season. During summer,
the increased cooling energy could be compensated for by a solar cooling system driven by
the hot air from faade. A desiccant cooling system to exploit this potential is currently being
installed at Mataro as part of an EU project [7].

Conclusions
In this paper, a thermal building model which includes sub-models for the ventilated PV
faade and the additional solar air collector, has been described. The model has been
validated against performance data for two available periods, measured at Mataro. The
calculated response for solar gain and heat loss for the building as a whole was captured
with acceptable accuracy. Based on the developed building model, the heating and cooling
loads for the building, in different European locations, have been estimated. Up to 12% of
the heating energy can be saved using pre-heated ventilation air for the building location in
Barcelona, whereas for Stuttgart and Loughborough, only 2% of the heating energy can be
saved. The model can, and will in future work, be applied to refine the design of the PV
ventilated faades, and their controls in the context of overall HVAC control.

Reference
1. A Lloret, etc. (1997), Lessons Learned in the Electrical System Design, Installation and
Operation of the Mataro Public Library, 14th European PV solar Energy Conference.
Barcelona.
2. D Infield, L Mei, U Eicker, Vfux, (1999), Understanding the Potential of Ventilated PV
Facades, ISES 1999 Solar World Congress. Jerusalem, Israel.
3. TRNSYS Reference Manual, (1996) Solar Energy Laboratory, University of WisconsinMadison.

4. Duffie J A and Beckman W A. (1993), Solar Engineering of Thermal Process, pp.270.

Wiley Interscience, New York.
5. ASHRAE, Handbook of Fundamentals (1993).
6. Solar Engineering Handbook, METEONORM - Global meteorological database for solar
energy and applied climatology, (1997).
7. Project of ERK6-CT-1999, Adsorption cooling of building with integrated PV/solar air
heating faade (AIRCOOL), (2000).