‘State-of-the-art’ of building integrated photovoltaic products

During the last decades, the photovoltaic (PV) modules and their associated architectural materials are increasingly being incorporated into the construction of the building envelope such as façade, roof and skylights in the urban centers. This paper analyzes the-state-of-the-art of the PV elements and construction materials which are advertised as BIPV-products at the most important companies in the world. For this purpose 136 companies and 445 PV elements have been investigated and analyzed from a technical and architectural point of view. Also, the study has been divided into two main groups according to industry which producing the product: BIPV-Modules, which comes from the PV modules manufacturers and consist of standard PV-modules with some variations in its aesthetic features, support or dimensions; and PV-Constructions Elements, which consist of conventional constructive elements with architectural features intentionally manufactured for photovoltaic integration. In advance for conclusions, the solar tile is the most common PV-constructions element, the Si-crystalline is the most widely used PV technology, and the BIPV-urban furniture is the fastest growing market experienced in recent years. However, it is clear the absences of innovative elements which meet at the same time both the constructive purpose as the quality standards of PV technology

Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV): Review, Potentials, Barriers and Myths

To date, none of the predictions that have been made about the emerging BIPV industry have really hit the target. The anticipated boom has so far stalled and despite developing and promoting a number of excellent systems and products, many producers around the world have been forced to quit on purely economic grounds. The authors believe that after this painful cleansing of the market, a massive counter trend will follow, enlivened and carried forward by more advanced PV technologies and ever-stricter climate policies designed to achieve energy neutrality in a cost-effective way. As a result, the need for BIPV products for use in construction will undergo first a gradual and then a massive increase. The planning of buildings with multifunctional, integrated roof and façade elements capable of fulfilling the technical and legal demands will become an essential, accepted part of the architectonic mainstream and will also contribute to an aesthetic valorisation. Until then, various barriers need to be overcome in order to facilitate and accelerate BIPV. Besides issues related to mere cost-efficiency ratio, psychological and social factors also play an evident role. The goal of energy change linked to greater use of renewables can be successfully achieved only when all aspects are taken into account and when visual appeal and energy efficiency thus no longer appear to be an oxymoro

Photovoltaic energy systems

This report outlines the European Commission's Joint Research Centre's contribution to standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) continues to play a significant role in European and international standardisation activities within the field of Photovoltaic Energy Systems. In particular JRC experts are convenors for working groups in both the relevant IEC and CENELEC technical committees, were the project leader of one standards published by the IEC in 2019 and made a significant contribution to many others. JRC is also the project leader for two more standards which are currently subject to the standardisation process.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) in Historical Buildings. Opportunities and Constraints

In this work, we investigate the potential of using last-generation photovoltaic systems in traditional building components of historical buildings. The multifunctional photovoltaic components also open new application and implementation horizons in the field of energy retrofitting in historical buildings. Some of the Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) solutions lend themselves optimally to solving the problems of energy e ciency in historical buildings. For the next few years, Italian legislation foresees increasing percentages of energy production from renewable sources, including historical buildings. The opportunities and constraints analysed are presented through a specific approach, typical of building processes for innovative technological BIPV solutions on historical buildings

Thin-film Photovoltaics Under Extreme Wind Loading Due to Downbursts in the Washington D.C. Area

Extreme wind loading on buildings can be caused by a variety of different weather phenomenon, including straight-line wind-inducing events known as downbursts. With maximum wind gusts up to 168 mph, downbursts have the potential to cause significant damage to modern infrastructure, comparable to that of the more commonly-known tornado or hurricane. Among the many variables that affect the extent of damage to infrastructure from such events, the performance of a building is largely dependent on two factors - (a) the magnitude of the loads induced on a building, and (b) the strength of the building components resisting these loads. The goal of this research is to characterize the downburst-induced horizontal wind loads on a building façade of a given region, as well as the strength and behavior of a green building material used in the façade of buildings - known as thin-film building integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs). With downburst data collected from the Washington D.C.-Baltimore metropolitan area (WBMA), a failure probability model is derived for BIPVs specific to this region

Building integrated photovoltaics- an overview

From the older concept of photovoltaic installation, which includes the addition of solar panels to a building’s roof, the construction technology has merged with the photovoltaics technology. The result is Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), in which integrating the architectural, structural and aesthetic component of photovoltaics into buildings. Building integration of photovoltaics (BIPVs) has been recognized worldwide as a pivotal technology enabling the exploitation of innovative renewable energy sources in buildings, acting as electric power generators within the new framework of smart cities. The standard semitransparent photovoltaic (PV) modules can largely replace architectural glass installed in the building envelopes such as roofs, skylights, and facade of a building. Their main features are power generation and transparency, as well as possessing a heat insulating effect. PV glass shows the same mechanical properties as a conventional, architectural glass used in construction. Additionally, it provides free and clean energy. Given these properties, PV Glass maximizes the performance of the building’s envelope. The cost of the PV system and its implementation is still significantly high in comparison to solar thermal systems. Keywords: Building Integrated Photovoltaics, renewable energy, power generation, heat insulating effec

An experimental comparison between commercial hybrid PV-T and simple PV systems intended for BIPV

The idea of combining both thermal and photovoltaic collectors in hybrid photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) modules actually shows a great potential for integration on facades and rooftops of buildings, mainly because of the reduced available space and the benefits of the on-site electricity and thermal generation. The objective of this work is to compare the real performance (experimental data obtained under real sun during a year) of a commercial hybrid PV-T system vs. a simple PV system using microinverters, assessing the suitability of one-unit hybrid PV-T systems vs. two separated units – PV systems + Thermal systems – for building integration. The combined efficiency over the span of a full day could reach values up to 80%, but this apparent high value needs to be analysed in detail. From the experimental results, it can be observed that both systems, PV and PV-T, have a good electrical performance. But the PV-T system output does not benefit from the lower module temperatures that it should achieve from the active cooling in its back, presenting the same performance as the simple PV system. Regarding the microinverters configuration performance, it has been very positive working with high efficiencies above 96%, justifying its use in this type of applications. In conclusion, the commercial PV-T system has not performed as expected, showing problems with the integration of the active cooling in the back of the PV modules. At this moment, and despite the potential of PV-T systems for BIPV due to space limitations, commercial PV-T systems are still far from PV and Thermal systems using separately

Factors Affecting the Fire Safety Design of Photovoltaic Installations Under Performance-Based Regulations in Norway

The impact of Photovoltaic (PV) installations on the fire safety of buildings must be considered in all building projects where such energy systems are established. The holistic fire safety of the building largely depends on how the fire safety of the PV installation is considered by the different actors during the design and construction process. Research has therefore been undertaken to study how performance-based regulations in combination with the lack of national guidelines affect the overall fire safety considerations for PV installations in Norway. Four factors were found to govern to which extent PV installations are emphasised in the fire safety design phase: (1) whether the building was first of its kind as a pioneering building, (2) whether the building was built before or after the publication of the 2018 revision of the norm NEK 400, (3) The level of knowledge and experience of the fire safety consultant, which in turn affects the use of performance-based engineering tools and the level of detailing in the design and construction phases, and (4) The degree of integration in the building. The main goal of the study is to give an insight and a contribution to the development of in-depth knowledge on how fire safety design for PV installations on buildings is handled in Norway, which may also be relevant to other countries with similar performance-based regulations.publishedVersio