Research Article

Environmental Life-Cycle Analysis of Hybrid Solar Photovoltaic/Thermal Systems for Use in Hong Kong

Table 2

Collector and technical design data of BiPV/T system.

Design parametersData

Front glazing (low-iron glass)

Thickness 0.004 m
Surface area1.61 m2
Depth of air gap underneath0.025 m

PV encapsulation
(TPT + EVA + solar cell + EVA + TPT + silicon gel)

Solar cell typesingle-crystalline silicon
Cell area0.81 m2
Cell electrical efficiency at STC13%
Solar cell temperature coefficient0.005/K
Emissivity0.8
Absorptivity0.8
Packing factor (wrt glazing)50%

Thermal absorber (aluminum alloy)

Thermal capacity903 kJ/(kg·K)
Density2702 kg/m3
Thermal conductivity237 W/(m·K)
Emissivity0.8
Absorptivity0.9

Insulation material (glass wool)

Thickness 0.03 m
Air gap between insulation layer and building wall0.02 m

Building wall (brick)

Thickness0.15 m
Density1600 kg/m3
Thermal capacity880 J/(kg·K)
Thermal conductivity1.0 W/(m·K)

Water tank (steel) and connecting pipes (copper)

Water storage capacity0.46 m3
Tank length1.5 m
Tank diameter 0.54 m
Pipe diameter0.055 m
Thickness of insulation layer at tank0.025 m
Thickness of insulation layer on pipe0.02 m