Thermodynamic Responses of Adaptive Mechanisms in BiPV Façade Systems Coupled with Latent Thermal Energy Storage

Ventilated building-integrated photovoltaic (BiPV)/phase-change material (PCM) facades have been applied and validated in building energy simulations; however, the dynamic thermal response of these facades has not been investigated. Notably, performance predictions and simulations for systems featur-ing natural airflows in the facade cavity are important for guiding the decision-making for energy-efficient buildings. To address this challenge in literature, in this work, numerical analyses were con-ducted, focusing on the climate adaptive reactions of a BiPV facade system coupled with a latent thermal energy storage system, based on a PCM. Numerical methods for determining the PCM heat transfer were evaluated, including their limitations. The thermodynamic reactions of two BiPV facade concepts were comparatively studied using two simulation domains: building energy simulations and computational fluid dynamics. The reliability of the theoretical methods was also evaluated. Good agreement between the simulation results and experimental data was noted through dynamic outdoor tests, empirically val-idating the study; standard statistical indicators were calculated and employed to assess the consistency between the experimental and simulation results. The used numerical approach can reliably predict the thermo-responsive capabilities of PCM-based BiPV facades with respect to the overall tendencies. The parameter variation techniques revealed modifications in the overall thermal and energy performance of the facade system. The most undesirable instance of overheating was predicted when using RT27; therefore, the PCM is considered inappropriate in this case. (c) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.