Energy performance of hybrid cogeneration versus side-by-side solar water heating and photovoltaic for subtropical building application

For the building sector, solar power generation is commonly adopted in low-carbon buildings, and there are more and more interests in zero carbon or even positive carbon building designs. It is the numerical analysis of system performance based on real design cases and typical year-round weather data that is more representative to evaluate and compare the long-term energy performance of different renewable energy systems. A hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system combines photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal (ST) devices together to form an integral cogeneration system. PV/T system with flat plate thermal collector design is well applicable to buildings with low-temperature fluid heating demands. In the warm climate cities, water-based ST system has wide applications. As a matter of fact, the merit of the cogeneration as compared to the side-by-side system at a specific location is best examined through real case studies. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.