Search

Organic photovoltaics (OPV) has attracted tremendous attention as a promising alternative to silicon wafer‐based technologies for building integration. While significant progress has been achieved on the power conversion efficiency of OPV technologies, their field stability is rarely studied. This work investigates the field performance and reliability of a large‐area OPV module designed for building integration in tropical Singapore for 4.5 years. The device suffered more than 14% degradation in power at the standard testing conditions from the initial performance, largely due to losses in fill factor (−12% relative). During the monitoring period, it exhibited comparable performance to more conventional silicon PV technologies, with an average specific energy yield of about 4 kWh/kWp/day and an average performance ratio of 0.96. Excellent performance at low light conditions was also observed. However, its field performance was heavily impacted by soiling, which typically led to a 5 to 10% loss in the current output after several months. Further, the device's outdoor performance also showed a three‐stage degradation process, including (1) an initial slow degradation in the first 2 years (about −1%/year), (2) a stable period with negligible performance loss from Years 2 to 3.5, and (3) a rapid degradation in the last year (about −5%/year). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the escalating urgency for sustainable energy alternatives, solar power in urban landscapes has gained prominence. Building‐integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems are pivotal in this shift, blending efficient energy generation with architectural aesthetics. This review casts a spotlight on BIPV technologies, with a special emphasis on the less‐explored semitransparent photovoltaics (PVs). These systems are not only energy generators but also natural light facilitators, setting them apart from their opaque PV counterparts. Advancements in both transparent and opaque PV, such as crystalline silicon, are discussed. However, the paper prioritizes semitransparent PV's unique benefits, including harmonious integration with building design and simultaneous energy and daylight management. An exhaustive examination of current literature and developments sketches BIPV's trajectory, highlighting applications, challenges, and technological strides. The narrative extols the aesthetic, financial, and efficiency merits of BIPV, particularly the semitransparent variants' blend of functionality and design. Performance optimization of BIPV systems is scrutinized across various environments and architectural styles. This meticulous discussion seeks to clarify the status quo, emerging research avenues, and future prospects of BIPV in fostering a greener energy transition. The review compares BIPV configurations with traditional solar PV systems, charting a path for enhanced energy production, cost efficiency, and aesthetic integration, with semitransparent PV as a key player. By exploring the interplay between architectural design, energy efficiency, and urban planning, this paper aims to solidify the groundwork for future research, reinforcing the sustainability narrative in urban energy infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is progressively achieving an advanced level of technical maturity and considerable market penetration. In the last kilometre for considerable market implementation, major challenges are today mostly related to improving cost‐effectiveness and product reliability. BIPV multifunctional products are still framed in complex and sometimes unclear qualification processes, in the grey area between electrotechnical and construction sectors, impacting commercialization and users' confidence. The EN 50583 part 1 and part 2 standards today represent the main regulatory framework in Europe for BIPV. However, acts in force for product certification, in the construction and electrical sectors, in most national and local contexts are not yet harmonized for BIPV and imply wide margins of interpretation. The product's qualification in the EU is therefore based on electrical standards for photovoltaics modules or, on the other hand, on standards for construction products. To overcome some of these barriers and challenges, the authors propose a newly developed procedure for testing the impact resistance of BIPV products, introducing a performance‐based approach with the goal of combining building and electrical‐related limit states and responding to the need for a harmonized assessment to ensure the product's safety in use. The methodology and preliminary findings resulting from the application of real test cases, taking also into account the effect of temperature, are presented and analysed. As a result, it is envisaged that the implementation will help operators and prospective normative upgrades, ensuring more outstanding product quality for BIPV's market and driving towards a drop in life cycle costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors optimized the thickness of the layers in the 1.67‐eV‐bandgap‐perovskite sub‐cell of a 2‐terminal perovskite/silicon monolithic tandem solar cell under standard test conditions to get the current matching between the top and the bottom sub‐cells. Based on that optimized structure of the tandem cell, we characterized, calculated, and analyzed the annual output energy and the annual efficiency of the tandem cells on the facades and the rooftop of buildings under realistic conditions composed of module temperature, realistic illumination irradiance, and incident angle directly measured in Gifu, Japan in 2015. Consequently, the obtained annual output energy is 279.52, 238.89, 129.99, and 115.21 kWh/m2 with the corresponding annual efficiency of 22.42%, 19.70%, 10.50%, and 9.19% for the tandem solar cells mounted on the rooftop, the south, east, and west facades of the buildings, respectively. Thus, the rooftop and the south face of the buildings are the preferred directions for the BIPV application to gain higher energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New generation photovoltaic (PV) devices such as polymer and dye sensitized solar cells (DSC) have now reached a more mature stage of development, and among their various applications, building integrated PVs seems to have the most promising future, especially for DSC devices. This new generation technology has attracted an increasing interest because of its low cost due to the use of cheap printable materials and simple manufacturing techniques, easy production, and relatively high efficiency. As for the more consolidated PV technologies, DSCs need to be tested in real operating conditions and their performance compared with other PV technologies to put into evidence the real potential. This work presents the results of a 3 months outdoor monitoring activity performed on a DSC mini-panel made by the Dyepower Consortium, positioned on a south oriented vertical plane together with a double junction amorphous silicon (a-Si) device and a multi-crystalline silicon (m-Si) device at the ESTER station of the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Good performance of the DSC mini-panel has been observed for this particular configuration, where the DSC energy production compares favorably with that of a-Si and m-Si especially at high solar angles of incidence confirming the suitability of this technology for the integration into building facades. This assumption is confirmed by the energy produced per nominal watt-peak for the duration of the measurement campaign by the DSC that is 12% higher than that by a-Si and only 3% lower than that by m-Si for these operating conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]