Design and Analysis of a Solar Geothermal Building Material System

Huiming Yin, PhD, PE

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University

ABSTRACT

A building integrated photovoltaic thermal (BIPVT) system is coupled with a bi-directional geothermal energy storage and exchange system for zero energy buildings. This disruptive technology passively utilizes geothermal energy in such a fashion that the building can operate as if it were embedded in the earth, like a basement, and the photovoltaic (PV) modules can reach high energy conversion efficiency at a temperature controlled by heat harvesting. Three fundamental problems are introduced for the design, manufacture, and operation of the material system: 1) the nonlinear deformation of PV modules under a transverse load is predicted by considering the effect of membrane force in the thin plate; 2) the sedimentation-based manufacture of a functionally graded material for BIPVT panels is simulated by the inclusion-based boundary element method (iBEM); 3) the elastic behavior of metal at different temperatures and pressures in geothermal wells is interpreted by a continuum particle model that correlates the interatomic potential of a crystal lattice with the elastic moduli of the solid. The fundamental understanding of these problems and the corresponding research methods can immediately create new research areas and applications. Particularly, iBEM based virtual experiments can reproduce the physical experiments on a computer with high fidelity for material design and analysis, and will be a powerful tool for future computer-aided design and manufacture of advanced material systems.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Huiming Yin received his Bachelor degree from the Hohai University, China, in 1995, Master degree from the Peking University, China, in 1998, and PhD degree from The Iowa University in 2004. Before joining Columbia University in 2008, Dr. Yin was employed by Caltrans as a Civil Engineer in the Transportation Laboratory at Sacramento, California, for two years and by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for two years. Dr. Yin's research focuses on the multiphysical and mechanical characterization and modeling of civil engineering materials and their applications in energy efficient infrastructure systems. He received the NSF CAREER Award in 2010. He founded the Pao Sustainable Engineering and Materials Laboratory and serves the Columbia Site Director of NSF IUCRC Center for Energy Harvesting Materials and Systems.