Energy and Luminous Performance Investigation of an OPV/ETFE Glazing Element for Building Integration

Álex Moreno, Daniel Chemisana, Rodolphe Vaillon, Alberto Riverola and Alejandro Solans
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Álex Moreno: Applied Physics Section of the Environmental Science Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Daniel Chemisana: Applied Physics Section of the Environmental Science Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Rodolphe Vaillon: IES, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, 34000 Montpellier, France
Alberto Riverola: Applied Physics Section of the Environmental Science Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain
Alejandro Solans: Applied Physics Section of the Environmental Science Department, University of Lleida, 25001 Lleida, Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-16

Abstract: The combination of architectural membranes such as ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) foils and organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells offers a wide range of possibilities for building integration applications. This is due to their flexibility, free-shape, variable color and semitransparency, light weight, cost-effectivity, and low environmental impact. In addition, electrical generation is provided. Four configurations of ETFE foils designed to be integrated onto a south façade glazing element were studied for two representative European locations with different climatic conditions: Barcelona and Paris. These configurations comprise a reference one based on a double ETFE foil with a 10 mm air gap in between, and the other three incorporate on the inner ETFE foil either OPV cells covering 50% or 100% of its surface or a shading pattern printed on it covering 50% of its surface. Results show that, in terms of energy, the configuration with higher OPV coverage area is the one achieving the lowest net energy consumption in both locations. However, when looking at the illumination comfort this option results in insufficient illumination levels. Therefore, a tradeoff strategy balancing energy performance and illumination comfort conditions is necessary. Based on that, the best solution found for both cities is the configuration integrating OPV cells covering 50% of the glazing area and for a window to wall ratio of 0.45.

Keywords: ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE); organic photovoltaics (OPV); daylighting; thermal performance; energetic simulation; building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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