Effect of a dual-function solar collector integrated with building on the cooling load of building in summer

As a building integrated solar thermal system, the dual-function solar collector integrated with building works for passive space heating in cold winter season, and for water heating in warm seasons. In this paper, the study is made on the dual-function solar collector integrated with building when it works in water heating mode with natural circulation. The coupled model of the collector and building’s environment is established and validated. A numerical simulation is achieved to show the thermal effect of the novel system on the building in summer. By comparing with the cooling loads of the rooms with or without the novel collector in summer, the results show that when in summer, the novel solar system is available for serving hot water, and it does not have the summer overheating problem, and can even improve the thermal environment of its building slightly.