Solar Panels Keep Buildings Cool (& Warm)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news/news_releases/release.sfe?id=1094

Solar Panels Keep Buildings Cool

San Diego, CA, July 18, 2011-- Those solar panels on top of your roof aren’t just providing clean power; they are cooling your house, or your workplace, too, according to a team of researchers led by Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

In a study in an upcoming issue of the journal Solar Energy, Kleissl and his team published what they believe are the first peer-reviewed measurements of the cooling benefits provided by solar photovoltaic panels. Using thermal imaging, researchers determined that during the day, a building’s ceiling was 5 degrees Fahrenheit cooler under solar panels than under an exposed roof. At night, the panels help hold heat in, reducing heating costs in the winter.

“Talk about positive side-effects,” said Kleissl.

As solar panels sprout on an increasing number of residential and commercial roofs, it becomes more important to consider their impact on buildings’ total energy costs, Kleissl said. His team determined that the amount saved on cooling the building amounted to getting a 5 percent discount on the solar panels’ price, over the panels’ lifetime. Or to put it another way, savings in cooling costs amounted to selling 5 percent more solar energy to the grid than the panels are actually producing— for the building researchers studied.

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[OnlinePoker]

1. It stands to reason.

If the sun's not hitting the surface of your house, it should keep it from becoming an oven. One question on solar panel design...do PV panels have heat sinks to bleed off heat that builds up in them? I would think the hotter the panel, the less efficient the energy generation. Or have I got it backwards?

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. Here’s an article that will interest you

http://solar.calfinder.com/blog/going/solar-thermal-pv-efficiency-x-3/