ICOSSE 2011: Columbia University’s Huiming Yin Discusses His Research About the Design Efficiency of Solar Roofing Panels



Huiming Yin is an Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University. He discussed his research "Design Efficiency Prediction of a Multifunctional Solar Roofing Panel" with ChEnected at the Second International Congress on Sustainability Science and Engineering (ICOSSE). Watch the interview in the video located in the right panel.

A multifunctional hybrid solar system has been designed to utilized photovoltaic (PV) cells, thermoelectric (TE) modules, and hot water (HW) through a building roof with high performance with regard to energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and structural integrity. Water tubes are cast within a functionally graded material layer to serve as a heat sink, allowing heat to be easily transferred into following water through an aluminum rich surface, which remaining insulated by a polymer rich bottom. This design is general and open to new PV and TE materials with emerging nanotechnology for higher efficiencies.

What do you think of hybrid systems like this one?