Solar Power Glass as a Passive Cooling Solution: A Study on Thermal Comfort and Indoor Air Temperature in Timber Structures

Abstract

The use of solar power glass panel is a passive approach to provide thermal comfort the building occupants. This study compares the indoor air temperature of building with ordinary glass and power generation glass. In order to produce accurate data, two identical timber structure has been construction in Zhongshan city, Guangdong China. Power generation glass and ordinary glass of 0.6m (W) x 1.2m (H) has been installed wall of the timber structure. Data was collected at different weather condition such as sunny and clear, cloudy and alternate cloudy and sunny. The results revealed that the use of power generation glass reduces the indoor air temperature up to 0.67˚ C, 0.45˚ C, 0.45˚ C for sunny and clear, cloudy and alternate cloudy and sunny weather condition, respectively. The use of power generation glass would not only able to produce solar energy to the building but also reduce the need of building energy cooling load.