Moisture-participating MOF thermal battery for heat reallocation between indoor environment and building-integrated photovoltaics

The present deployment of photovoltaic (PV) panels on the rooftop has been far below its potential. Stakeholders often see the PV as a strong design constraint, isolated from the built environment and not adapted to their requirements. Here, we propose a new design that combines the PV panels with a metal-organic framework based sorptive thermal battery, which serves as a multi-functional building element and is more actively involved in the indoor environment regulation. The open-loop thermal battery can stock moisture from air with 10(5) times its volume so that the built environment with high humidity at night is dried to a comfortable and healthy level. The moisture is removed at daytime with unpleasant solar heat, thereby cools the PV panels simultaneously, improving electricity generation by 5%. The benefits of this design can be translated into economic added value to facilitate investment decisions of building-integrated PV projects.

Automated summary

The proposed design combining PV panels with sorptive thermal battery can actively regulate indoor environment, removing moisture at night and cooling the panels with solar heat during the day, leading to a 5% increase in electricity generation.