In this study, we integrated a photovoltaic (PV) system, a double-skin structure and a thermal flow mechanism to design ventilated building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) curtain walls that can autogenously control an environment using buoyant force. Full-scale experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to investigate the flow pattern characteristics for the channel airflow and the thermal performance of the ventilated BIPV curtain walls under various heating conditions, wall thicknesses and types of openings. Channel flows for different channel widths under the same wall heating exhibited different flow patterns and therefore variations in thermal performance. The developed ventilated BIPV curtain walls effectively removed their solar heat gain while maintaining adequate wall thermal performance.
A state-space based method to predict thermal performance of pipeembedded double skin façade: case study in Guangzhou
