Building Integrated Photovoltaic–Thermal System (BIPVT) Performance Under the Tropical Climate Conditions

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and population growth, as well as the tropical climate with uniform temperatures, frequent precipitation, and randomly varying sunny to cloudy skies, have dramatically increased energy consumption in Malaysia. On the growing trend in energy demand and fossil fuel prices, the Malaysian government developed renewable energy (RE) as the fifth fuel to ensure energy security, accelerate economic and financial development, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by regulating the fuel diversification strategy. Given its location near the equator, Malaysia is blessed with abundant RE, including solar, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal. At the same time, due to the failure of the fuel diversification strategy on several occasions, the total installed RE capacity in Malaysia was only 8450 MW by 2021, representing 23% of the total installed capacity mix in Malaysia. However, the Malaysian government aims to reach 18.0 GW, equivalent to a 40% share of RE in the national capacity mix by 2035, and reduce greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit of GDP by 60% relative to 2005. Among renewables, solar energy systems are the privileged technology of Malaysia’s national energy due to the abundance of solar irradiation, the ability to be utilized in residential and commercial buildings, as well as the opportunity to integrate into industrial processes. Building integrated photovoltaic–thermal systems (BIPVT) has recently been developed as part of various structural combinations such as walls, roofs, windows, and shading devices to achieve net zero carbon buildings. The techno-economic analysis of this system shows that the use of the BIPVT system in Malaysian residential buildings can reduce the energy consumption of natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions by 769 m³/annum and 3143 kg/ annum, respectively, with an approximate efficiency of 18.2%. Given an average lifespan of 25 years for system components, the payback period of this system is approximately 17 years with an internal rate of return of 2.68%, a net present value (NPV) of 4032 MYR, and an absolute profit of MYR 8388. Concerning the large number of residential and commercial buildings and active industries in Malaysia, adopting more supportive policies and initiatives can increase the participation of the private sector and, thus, the use of solar systems in Malaysia.