Statistical analysis of power generation of semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV) for diversity in building envelope design: A mock-up test by azimuth and tilt angles

Younghoon Kwak, Sun-Hye Mun, Chang-Dae Park, Sang-Moon Lee and Jung-Ho Huh

Renewable Energy, 2022, vol. 188, issue C, 651-669

Abstract: Semi-transparent photovoltaics (STPVs) have received increasing attention as an energy-efficient building envelope that uses renewable energy. It is necessary to find the optimal combination of the azimuth angle and tilt angle to install the STPV and to secure high-power generation. However, various constraints limit the installation of STPVs at optimal angles. In other words, there may be a conflict between the building envelope design and STPV design depending on the circumstances, thereby limiting the design. Therefore, this study presents a statistical analysis of power generation with respect to angle to determine the possibilities in building envelope design. Two identical STPV modules each were installed at five azimuth and tilt angles (i.e., two STPV modules each on 25 sides), and the power generation for one year was measured. Then, 1392 h of data were sampled and a statistical analysis was conducted to compare the power generation. First, the representative values were set after comparing the power generation of the two modules at each angle through the Mann–Whitney test. Then, the power generation of each angle was compared through the Kruskal–Wallis test, and a post hoc analysis was conducted. As a result, power generation for five azimuth angles (e.g., +90° (west), +45° (southwest), 0° (south), −45° (southeast), and −90° (east)) was statistically identical in performance at tilt angles of 3° and 15°. Therefore, it is more desirable to focus designs on securing more area than considering optimal azimuth angle in the generation of maximum power through STPVs, at tilt angles of 3° and 15°. Moreover, STPVs for the tilt angles of 75° and 90° were statistically identical in performance when facing west, southwest, southeast, and east. This suggests that, when an STPV is installed at 75° or 90° of the tilt angle, if it cannot be installed on the south, it will provide statistically identical performance even if it is installed at any other azimuth angle. In light of these findings, this study concludes by providing guidelines for the application of STPVs in early architectural design.

Keywords: Semi-transparent photovoltaic (STPV); Architectural design; Mann–Whitney test; Kruskal–Wallis test; Post hoc analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122001896
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:renene:v:188:y:2022:i:c:p:651-669

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.048

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().