Effect of air gap on performance enhancement of building assisted with photo voltaic systems

This paper investigates performance improvement of room assisted with Photo voltaic (PV) system by varying air gap and PV glazing type. PV panel was installed on the south side of the room as Photo Voltaic Trombe wall (PV-TW) and over the roof. Performance was evaluated in term of cooling load, energy consumption and PV efficiency. Three different types of PV glazing (i.e. Single Glazing, Double glazing, double glazing filled with Argon gas) was tested by changing air gap between wall and PV panel for Malaysian climate. TRNSYS building simulation software was used in which various input parameters were inserted to obtain the results. It was found that maximum PV efficiency was achieved in the case of Double glass filled with Argon PV-TW at air gap of 0.2 m and roof pitch angle 20 degree. Ventilated PV-TW and PV panel installed over the roof also reduces cooling load of the room. Among all the three types of glazing, room assisted with Double glass filled with argon PV panel shows highest reduction in cooling load at air gap 0.2m and roof pitch angle 20 degree. Also cooling load of room reduced significantly with the increase in roof pitch angle upto certain critical angle which is different for different PV glazing. ©2006-2016 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN).