Publication: CFD simulations for evaluation of forced convective heat transfer coefficients on Photovoltaic/Thermal systems integrated on the windward roof surface of a low-rise building

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Title	CFD simulations for evaluation of forced convective heat transfer coefficients on Photovoltaic/Thermal systems integrated on the windward roof surface of a low-rise building
Authors/Editors*	C M Jubayer, P Karava, E Savory
Where published*	5th Int Symp on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2010), Chapel Hill, NC, USA, May
How published*	Proceedings
Year*	2010
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Keywords	Photovoltaic systems, convective heat transfer, building
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Abstract	The wind-induced exterior convective heat transfer coefficients (CHTC) for a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system mounted on the windward 30 degree roof slope of a low-rise building have been computed using high resolution 3-D steady RANS with the Realizable k-epsilon (R k-epsilon) and the Shear Stress Transport k-omega (SST k-omega) turbulence closures. For validation purposes a 1:50 scale model of the building, with full-scale plan dimension of 4.2 m x 6 m and a 3 m roof height, was tested in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Results for the wind direction normal to the eaves show that the SST k-omega turbulence closure performed better than the R k-epsilon model in terms of matching the model-scale wind tunnel velocity profiles over the windward roof and in predicting full-scale exterior CHTC values from experiments reported in the literature. The importance of representing CHTC correlations in dimensionless form, and as a function of Reynolds number rather than simply a local velocity, has also been demonstrated.