Study on Thermal Characteristics of a Novel Glass Curtain Wall System

In order to solve the conflict between indoor lighting and PV cells in building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) systems, a glass curtain wall system based on a tiny transmissive concentrator is proposed. This glass curtain wall has a direct influence on the heat transfer between indoor and outdoor, and the operating parameters of air and water inlet temperature, indoor and outdoor temperature, and radiation intensity have a significant influence on the heat transfer characteristics of the glass curtain wall. The 3D model is established by SoildWorks software, and the thermal characteristics of the new glass curtain wall system are simulated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. Thermal performance was tested under actual weather for the winter working conditions. The CFD simulation results are verified by the test results under actual weather. The results show that thermal efficiency simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results of the new glass curtain wall system. The simulation conditions were designed by using the orthogonal method, and the significance analysis of the influencing factors of the indoor wall surface heat gain was carried out. With the increase of the bottom heat flux and the air velocity, the heat absorption of the inner wall surface increases. When the wind speed is 0.1 m/s, the heat flow on the bottom surface rises from 500 W/m(2) to 2500 W/m(2), and the heat flow intensity on the interior wall changes from 10.31 W/m(2) to -29.12 W/m(2). Under typical working conditions, the new glass curtain wall system can reduce the indoor heat load by 47.5% than ordinary glass curtain wall.