A research team led by scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China has conducted a large-scale experimental study of the thermal performance of a building-integrated PV (BIPV) façade under enclosure fire conditions. An enclosure fire is a fire burning inside a confined space, such as a room, where walls and openings control heat buildup, airflow, and fire behavior.
“The large-scale experimental setup was designed to study the thermal breakage and fallout of BIPV façade in an enclosure fire,” first author Chengming Xiao told pv magazine. “Three representative types of PV curtain modules were selected for the experiments: cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film, double-glazed, and single-glass crystalline silicon modules. Traditional glass was used for comparative experiments,”
“Our studyprovides systematic large-scale experimental evidence on BIPV façade fire behavior, quantifies the critical breakage characteristics and temperature differences for different kinds of PV panels, and reveals the feedback effects of BIPV façade fallout on compartment fire dynamics,” co-author Yu Wang added. “The findings offer important implications for fire safety assessment and design of BIPV façades.”
For their tests, the researchers built an experimental compartment with dimensions of 1.4 m × 1.4 m × 1.8 m, made of stainless steel. It was lined with 8-cm-thick ceramic fiber boards to provide insulation. A stainless-steel frame was installed on the open side, where two 60 cm by 60 cm PV panels would be fixed.
Two openings of the same size were located at the lower part of the compartment to allow natural ventilation. The frame covered the outer 30 mm, creating a 540 mm × 540 mm heated area, while a 10 mm ceramic fiber at the edges reduced heat conduction and prevented stress from the frame.
In this setup, the team examined eight façade configurations. These included double-glazed thin-film CdTe modules with either fully annealed glass or a combination of annealed outer and tempered inner glass; double-glazed crystalline silicon modules with either fully annealed or fully tempered glass; and single-glass crystalline silicon modules with a combustible EVA/TPT backsheet, again in both annealed and tempered versions. For baseline comparison, two non-PV cases were also tested: single-layer annealed glass and single-layer tempered glass.
“The results demonstrate that the fire performance of BIPV façades is strongly governed by the coupled effects of glass type and the presence of combustible encapsulation materials,” Xiao said. “Tempered-glass PV panels exhibit superior thermal and mechanical resistance to breakage, and falling combustible encapsulation materials may ignite lower or surrounding combustibles, thereby further promoting fire spread.”
In addition, the researchers added, the strength and type of PV panels also influence compartment fire dynamics, governing both fire development and flame ejection behavior. “The new openings caused by PV panel fallout altered the stable ventilation condition and induced flame ejection, thereby accelerating the growth of heat release rate and heat flux,” they also noted.
Their findings n presented in “Large-scale experimental study of thermal performance of building-integrated photovoltaic façade in an enclosure fire,” published in the Journal of Building Engineering. In addition to the University of Science and Technology of China, researchers from Italy’s University of Trieste have contributed to the study.
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