Multi-Criteria Performance Assessment for Semi-Transparent Photovoltaic Windows in Different Climate Contexts

Gigih Rahmandhani Setyantho, Hansaem Park and Seongju Chang
Additional contact information
Gigih Rahmandhani Setyantho: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Hansaem Park: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea
Seongju Chang: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon 34141, Korea

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-21

Abstract: Semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) windows, one of the building façade elements, can generate electricity and provide a certain amount of daylight for occupants. Nevertheless, expensive cost and unsatisfying indoor daylight performance in the room are common problems with STPV windows. This study investigates the thermal, daylight, energy, and life-cycle cost performance of STPV windows by considering varied window-to-wall ratios, building orientations, and STPV module types. The electricity balance index (elBI) indicator is proposed as one of the performance evaluation criteria. Two types of building models are established for this study: a rig-test building as the baseline building model and a KAIST campus research facility as the test building model along with the actual measurements and simulations using DesignBuilder. Results show that the STPV window in the Mediterranean climate demonstrates higher efficiency based on the elBI indicator. Decision-making analysis using the analytic hierarchy process and PROMETHEE II found weighting rates of 0.309, 0.076, and 0.465 for elBI, comfort, and cost criteria, respectively. Furthermore, lighting energy consumption becomes a critical variable for STPV module type selection, while a simple ON/OFF lighting control system can improve the elBI value by 0.02 ~ 0.04. Our research findings could potentially improve the decision-making process for building and urban energy systems selection in different climate types.

Keywords: photovoltaics; energy-efficient building; thermal comfort; visual comfort; life-cycle cost; decision-making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2198/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/2198/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:2198-:d:501493

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().