Performance Evaluation of Vacuum Photovoltaic Insulated Glass Unit

Although semi-transparent photovoltaic windows can generate electricity in situ, they also increase the cooling load of buildings significantly due to the waste heat as a byproduct. However, vacuum glazing, which has excellent thermal insulation, can effectively solve the above issues for PV windows. In order to take advantage of excellent thermal insulation performance of vacuum glazing, a novel vacuum photovoltaic insulated glass unit (VPV IGU) was presented. The electrical characteristics of the PV laminated glass were tested in laboratory under standard test conditions. Then power generation and thermal performances of the VPV IGU were evaluated through experiments. Results have indicated that the VPV IGU can not only generate electricity, but also help reduce the cooling load as well as improve the indoor thermal comfort.