Energy and exergy analysis of a building integrated semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (BISPVT) system

In this paper, a study has been carried out to evaluate the energy and exergy performance of a building integrated semitransparent photovoltaic thermal (BISPVT) system integrated to the roof of a room. Comparisons have been carried out on the basis of energy and exergy by considering six different photovoltaic (PV) modules. It is observed that maximum annual electrical energy is 810 kW h for heterojunction comprised of a thin amorphous silicon (a-Si) PV cell on top of a crystalline silicon (c-Si) cell (also known as HIT) and the maximum annual thermal energy is 464 kW h for a-Si. It is also concluded that HIT PV module is suitable for producing electrical power whereas a-Si is suitable for space heating. However, an annual overall thermal energy (2497 kW h) and exergy (834 kW h) is maximum for HIT PV module. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.