Search

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 3991-3999, The building envelope could be conceived not only as a passive solution, but also as an active system able to contribute to satisfy electricity demand if a PV system is integrated in it. Anyway, costs represent still a barrier for the use of PV as a common building material [1]. The prefabrication of an envelope component that integrates PV system could reduce the costs and, at the same time, enhance the overall quality and the energy performance. In this context a concept of an innovative prefabricated wooden façade component with integrated PV, has been conceived and developed. It is a multifunctional component constituted by three main layers: a structural part of framed wood panel with thermal insulation, an air gap for the natural ventilation and the PV system. The optimization of its energy performance was the objective of this research activity, which considered both the PV production and the impact of the component on the building energy balance. The methodology used to optimize the configuration of the prototype was a parametric analysis considering the following parameters as independent variables: the PV technology, the ventilation as well as the thickness of the air gap, the heat exchange features and the materials applied. The analysis considered as dependent variables the PV efficiency, i.e. the module’s temperature, which was evaluated through thermal energy simulations and the value of the thermal transmittance, which was assessed both through calculation and experimental campaign. The component prototype was tested in a calorimeter, part of Eurac indoor test facilities, to measure its steady-state thermal transmission properties. Then it will be installed in a prototypical building for an elementary school, which is entirely realized with prefabricated wood framed panels. This will allow to monitor the energy performance of the prototype working under real conditions and also to monitor its energy impact on the building fabric, providing a deeper understanding on the energy interaction between integrated PV and the building envelope.

26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition; 4265-4268, This paper presents monitoring results over a 8-month period of time for different thin-film photovoltaic (PV) technologies installed at the multi-technology rack-mounted PV test field at the Airport of Bolzano Dolomiti (ABD) in the Italian Alps. In the evaluation, different technologies were cross-compared: amorphous silicon (a-Si), copper indium gallium diselenide (CIS/CIGS) and micromorph silicon (a-Si/μ-Si). The various thin-film technologies were compared according to their performance ratio. Additionally the modules behavior were compared with those of the best crystalline Si (c-Si) in the field. The presented results refers to DC values. The PV modules were evaluated in relation to meteorological data registered on-site.

25th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition / 5th World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, 6-10 September 2010, Valencia, Spain; 5131-5134, This paper presents the monitoring results of a PV system integrated into the façade of an office building situated in the city center of Bolzano (Italy). Data regarding PV production, climatic characteristics and module temperature have been collected for a six months period. The temperature reached by the modules is, as expected and confirmed by monitored data that registered a peak of 57.4°C, one critical aspect of this BIPV system since it is integrated into the façade without ventilation. Simulations show that, considering one single day, ventilation of the modules could enhance the power production of 3.5%. In order to verify the correspondence between simulations and monitored values, a comparison considering one single day was carried out: the mathematical model used by the software for simulations, manages to predict the PV array irradiation and the average temperature of the modules with good accuracy (respectively -2% and +0.2%), while the power production is strongly underestimated (-20%).This could be due to several reasons that are discussed in the paper.

24th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference, 21-25 September 2009, Hamburg, Germany; 4256-4258, A typical problem of retrofit BIPV systems is the power loss due to the temperature increase because the modules are often installed next to another surface. A way to decrease the temperature value of the module and thus of the cell is to allow natural convection underneath the modules, leaving a gap between the PV system and the other surface. The case study of a retrofit PV roof integration was analyzed and monitored. In order to understand the influence of modules arrangement on temperature distribution, several simulations were carried out. The results show that the distance between module arrays do not affect the temperature values in any significant way.