Innovative integration of solar chimney ventilator, solar panel and phase change material;under real transient weather condition of Hong Kong through different months

ABSTRACT

The recent Covid-19 pandemic and its required hygiene protocols further revealed the importance of ventilation process in all buildings deal with human life. Solar Chimney Ventilator (SCV) is a type of renewable technology that is able to provide natural ventilation for the buildings. However, conventional SCV is not economical due to its low performance of ventilation. Thus, in the current study, an innovative tilted Solar Chimney Ventilator with Phase Change Material integrated with Photovoltaic technology (SCV-PV-PCM) is proposed and investigated under real unsteady transient weather condition (based on Hong Kong climate) via a validated three-dimensional numerical study. The characteristics of the SCV-PV-PCM is analyzed during the day (through different month i.e March, June, September, and December) and compared with conventional SCV-PV system. Based on the findings, the produced power and ventilation capacity of the SCV-PV-PCM is higher than those for the common SCV-PV system. Nonetheless, the system is not able to provide the appropriate ventilation power for the building through the winter due to lack of high ambient temperature and strong solar radiation. Moreover, it is concluded that using the SCV-PV-PCM in the building is most economically beneficial in the month of June by saving 2.88 $/month.