Prismatic TIR (total internal reflection) low-concentration PV (photovoltaics)-integrated facade for low latitudes

摘要

Low-concentration Facade-integrated Photovoltaic system in the form of TIR (total internal reflection) prismatic segmented Facade could play an effective role in reducing the direct component of solar radiation transmitting through buildings, hence reducing both cooling and artificial lighting load on such buildings. A prismatic segmented Facade is capable of allowing diffused skylight to transmit through it to the building interior, while preventing most of the direct solar radiation and converting it into clean energy by means of the integrated PV (photovoltaics) cells. A range of prismatic Tnz. segmented Facades with different head angles has been designed based on the geographical latitude of the chosen location. Each Facade configuration is simulated by ray-tracing technique and its performance is investigated against realistic direct solar radiation data in two clear sky days representing summer and winter of the targeted location. Ray tracing simulations revealed that all of the selected configurations could collect most of the direct solar radiation in summer. In contrary, larger head angle of the segmented Facade could collect wider intervals around the noon time till reaching a head angle of 23 at which most of the incident direct solar radiation could be collected. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.