Page 299 - A Comprehensive Guide to Solar Energy Systems

Chapter 14 • Advanced Building Integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal Technologies 303

FIGURE 14.4 A pilot project of the BITER system.

there is an excess of thermal energy available on standard domestic hot water application,
the heat could be stored for later use, or it could be used for a hot tub or for heating a pool
or for geothermal use, which would be subject to locations.
Because of its high performance coupled with aesthetic design of the BITer and qual-
ity of all the BIPV installations, AeS received the Frost & Sullivan “2009 World Building-
Integrated Photovoltaic niche Player of the year Award” [32]. The award was in recognition
of AeS’s successful initiatives in entering a niche market with innovative and user friendly
solutions.

14.3 BIPVT Solar Roof

recent studies [30, 31] have shown that, by integrating functionally graded materials
(FGms) as a cooling substrate, a novel BIPVT roofing panel is able to efficiently harvest
solar energy. The purpose of the proposed FGm layer is to create a lightweight layer of
solar roofing panel with a varying thermal conductivity in the thickness direction. The
FGm layer involves a gradation of material phases from metal dominated layer to poly-
mer materials. Water tubes are embedded in the top part of the FGm layer, where the
high aluminum concentration creates high thermal conductivity so that heat flow from
surface can be immediately transferred to water tubes in all directions, yet be insulated by
the lower part composed of a polymer layer. The proposed PVT panel can be integrated
into the building skin with water circulation, flow control, and heat storage and utiliza-
tion systems. Solar energy is collected by BIPVT panels in the form of electricity and heat.
electricity can be used locally or transmitted to the grid, while the heat can be stored or
directly used indoors for floor heating or clean drying, or used externally to supply heat
to swimming pools.