Numerical study of the use of photovoltaic-Trombe wall in residential buildings in Tibet

In the current paper, the thermal and electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV)- Trombe wall (PV-TW) used in Tibetan residential buildings is investigated, and two performance influencing factors are analysed. Based on the original model, the PV-TW's model for residential buildings is updated, and then a simple design is performed for a given residential building in Tibet. The results show that the indoor temperature increases linearly, whereas the electrical efficiency remains almost constant, when the PV-TW's width increases. In addition, thermal insulation is found to be quite effective to improve the thermal performance, whereas it decreases the electrical performance only a little. After choosing a width of 1.70 m, the average indoor temperatures are 10.2 °C and 24.0 °C for PV-TW system with and without thermal insulation, respectively. Besides, the average electrical power can satisfy the requirement of 100W, with an electrical efficiency of 10–11 per cent.