Dynamic thermal simulation of a solar chimney with PV modules

The issue of this paper is to present theoretical results for a solar chimney with thermal mass, where the glass surface is replaced by photovoltaic (PV) modules. A portion of the heat absorbed by the PV modules is dissipated to the air channel in convective form, and it exchanges radiation heat with the concrete wall. These cooling phenomena for the PV modules improve their efficiency with a lower working temperature. Both phenomena are heating process to the air and the concrete wall, that produce natural ventilation. The solar chimney is supposed to be isolated from any building. The results obtained are an average air mass flow rate around 0.02 kg/s along the day and night, and a maximum PV temperature of 321 K.