Building performance enhancement using phase change materials and solar photovoltaic thermal systems

Due to the significant and ever-growing energy demand of building heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, energy consumption in the building sector is continuously increasing. The development and deployment of advanced energy technologies and the improvement in the energy efficiency of building HVAC systems are therefore essential to significantly reduce energy consumption and achieve sustainability in the built environment. Solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) collectors and thermal energy storage (TES) using phase change materials (PCMs) are among the sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. The integration of PVT collectors and PCMs into buildings and building HVAC systems could be an alternative solution to rationalise the utilisation of solar energy so as to improve building thermal performance and energy efficiency. Although different solar thermal systems with integrated PCMs have been studied over the last decades, only a few trials have been carried out to simultaneously integrate PVT collectors and PCMs with buildings and building HVAC systems. This thesis presents the development, modelling, experimental investigation, and design optimisation of building and building HVAC systems with PCMs and PVT collectors for improved building performance in terms of effective thermal management and enhanced energy efficiency. Three different approaches have been developed in this study to integrate PCMs and PVT collectors to develop energy efficient buildings and building HVAC systems. These systems are: i) buildings with envelopes enhanced by PCMs (called PCM enhanced buildings) and PVT collectors for space heating; ii) a centralised PCM thermal energy storage (TES) system with integrated PVT collectors for solar heat storage and; iii) an air source heat pump system with integrated PVT collectors and PCM layers laminated into building ceiling for space conditioning.