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Semi-transparent building integrated photovoltaic panel: performance evaluation in Arusha tropics,Tanzania
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Date
2020-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
NM-AIST
Abstract
The performance of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) semi-transparent windows on
facades for office building has been investigated in Tanzania’s tropical climate. Integrating
semi-transparent BIPV with windows permits multifunctional performance improvements as
energy generation and allowing light natural to enter the building, hence total energy
efficiency enhancement. The aim of this study was to investigate the performance of the
semi-transparent BIPV on office buildings applications. An experiment was set up at the
Innovation Technological and Energy Center (iTEC), Nelson Mandela African Institution of
Science and Technology (NM-AIST), Arusha, Tanzania. Measurement of weather
parameters, which are solar irradiance, outdoor air temperature, relative humidity and wind
speed, was taken based on various conditions, cloudy, normal and clear sky days on the
assessment of the performance of the system. The experimental set-up consisted of building
integrated silicon mono crystalline semi-transparent PV rated at 50 W. The electrical and
optical properties were evaluated for the performance of the window glazing system. The
experimental I-V and P-V curves were measured at different irradiances. Throughout the
experiment, the observed module temperature was between 20 °C - 51 °C and air temperature
17 °C - 33 °C while humidity was recorded at a range 23% - 63%. Module electrical
efficiency was observed to vary from 4% to 9% while the visible light transmission from
11% to 19%. It was concluded that at high temperature regardless of irradiance increase,
there were observed output power and efficiency drops caused by high heat losses.
Keywords: Solar energy, BIPV, semitransparent PV, energy efficiency, daylight harvesting
Sustainable Development Goals
A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master’s in Sustainable Energy Science and Engineering of the Nelson Mandela African
Institution of Science and Technology
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::NATURAL SCIENCES