The NRCA Leadership and Workforce Development Catalog now is available for download.

Performance Evaluation of a Sustainable and Energy Efficient Re-roofing Technology Using Field Test Data

To obtain a copy of a specific publication, users should contact the publication's publisher directly.

Abstract
During September-October 2009, a research team of members representing Metal Construction Association, a North American trade association of metal building manufacturers, builders, and material suppliers; CertainTeed, manufacturer of thermal insulation and building envelope materials; Uni-Solar, producer of amorphous silicon photovoltaic (PV) laminates; Phase Change Energy Solutions, manufacturer of biobased phase change material (PCM); and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) installed an experimental retrofit roof in the ORNL campus. The bjective was to evaluate a new sustainable re-roofing technology utilizing amorphous silicon PV laminates integrated with metal roof panels and PCM heat sink. The experimental attic with PV laminate is expected to work during winter as a passive solar collector with the PCM storing solar heat absorbed during the day, and increasing overall attic air temperature at night. During summer, the PCM is expected to act as a heat sink at the roof, reducing the heat gained by the attic and consequently, lowering the cooling-load on the building. Field-test data of the experimental PV-PCM attic are presented and discussed. Performance of the PV-PCM attic is evaluated by comparing it to a control attic with an asphalt shingle roof. The test results showed that substantial energy and cost savings are possible with the current experimental roof. Solar power generation data from the PV laminates installed over the PCM attic are also presented.
Date
9/2011
Author(s)
Ksushik Biswas; William Miller; Phillip Childs; Jan Kosny; Scott Kriner
Page(s)
Keyword(s)
phase change material; PSM; thin film photovoltaic; PV; retrofit; metal roof


Note: Documents in this section are provided as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. In order to print and view PDF files, the Adobe Acrobat Reader software/plugin, which runs on Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, OS/2 and various versions of UNIX, must be installed on your computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader is available for download as freeware from Adobe Acrobat's website. Please note that the resolution of on-screen versions is not as high as printed versions of PDF files.

Advertisement

Subscribe for Updates Join 25,000+ roofing professionals following NRCA

Subscribe to NRCA