ABSTRACT
The use of photovoltaic elements in building facades allows besides the generation of electrical energy additionally the utilization of thermal energy caused by the absorption of solar radiation. But in most cases thermal energy must be stored until there is real need of it. Storing requires big volume and complicated systems to transfer the heat from the absorption layers to the storage. A solution of that problem is the usage of phase change material for storing. This material can store a high amount of thermal energy in a small volume. On that way a compact storage of phase change material is arranged directly behind the photovoltaic module. The system can run as passiv building facade with temperature balance effect or as heat storage for temporary use by active components. Experimental investigations on several developed PV hybrid elements with latent heat storage are described in this contribution.
