A Review on Building Integrated Photovoltaic Façade Customization Potentials

Abstract

Technological advancement in Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) has converted the building façade into a renewable energy-based generator. The BIPV façade is designed to provide energy generation along with conventional design objectives such as aesthetics and environmental control. The challenge however, is that architectural design objectives sometimes conflict with energy performance, such as the provision of view and daylight versus maximum power output. In innovative cases, the characteristics of conventional BIPV façades have been modified by researchers to address such conflicts through customization as an emerging trend in BIPV façade design. Although extensive reviews exist on BIPV product types, design integration, adoption barriers and performance issues, research on BIPV customization has not been reviewed as a solution to BIPV adoption. This paper seeks to review the potential of BIPV façade customization as a means of enhancing BIPV adoption. The current paper identifies customization parameters ranging from the customization category, level, and strategies, and related architectural potential along with an assessment of their impact. The findings reflect that elemental and compositional level customization using combined customization strategies provide enhanced BIPV products. These products are well integrated for both energy generation and aesthetic applications with a power output increase of up to 80% in some cases. The paper concludes that a wide range of BIPV adoption barriers such as aesthetics, architectural integration, and performance can be overcome by appropriate BIPV customization.

A Conceptual Framework for a Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Educative-Communication Approach

“…Besides the above, however, the BIPV technology also has its unique barriers and limiting factors as identified in several studies mentioned in the introduction. These barriers are in areas of education, product, economy, database, industry, and management with previous research identifying BIPV education/information awareness as the most crucial of these [37]. Seeing that the interposing barriers mentioned above (i.e., in line with RES, solar and PV) also identify information, awareness, and education as a need, this study seeks to address this challenge by the development of the proposed Educative-Communication Approach.…”

“…Most of these studies agree and specifically identify BIPV adoption barriers which relate to education/information [25][26][27][28]32], product, and project database [25][26][27][28], economy [26][27][28][29][30], industry [30][31][32][33], and management [25,29,30,33]. Among these, reported findings reflect that the impact of education linked with sufficient information and knowledge about BIPV is the most crucial [37]. Specifically, the review shows that, both within professional and public circles, there is a lack of sufficient knowledge on design, cost issues and multi-functional benefits from the environmental to economic to the social dimensions of BIPV adoption.…”

“…Thus, though BIPV technology has multiple benefits and has been in public domain for the last three decades, its adoption rate in the built environment is limited. An overview of twelve studies on BIPV adoption [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] was carried out in a previous work [37]; from this, six major BIPV adoption barrier categories were identified. Most of these studies agree and specifically identify BIPV adoption barriers which relate to education/information [25][26][27][28]32], product, and project database [25][26][27][28], economy [26][27][28][29][30], industry [30][31][32][33], and management [25,29,30,33].…”

New Building Cladding System Using Independent Tilted BIPV Panels with Battery Storage Capability

“…Attoye et al [11] investigated the customization of BIPV facades primarily within the context of architectural design. Often, there is a conflict in implementing BIPV for maximum power output while also providing adequate daylight, outdoor ventilation, and outdoor scenery for occupant comfort.…”

Heating and Cooling Performance of Office Buildings with a-Si BIPV Windows Considering Operating Conditions in Temperate Climates: The Case of Korea

“…BIPV components can be classified as roof, outer wall, window, and shading types depending on their shape and purpose of installation. BIPV windows, in particular, have thermal and optical properties that differ from those of conventional windows and thus have a great impact on building energy consumption [10].…”