Assessing the performance of solar-based façade solutions: a 2-year experimental study
Abstract
The building sector is a major energy consumer and faces pressure to reduce its energy use while providing sustainable living spaces. Renewable energy solutions, especially solar technologies, are crucial for achieving nearly zero energy buildings. In densely populated areas, traditional rooftop PV or thermal systems often underperform. Innovations like multifunctional façades with hybrid PVT collectors are essential for efficient energy harvesting and thermal comfort. This research evaluates through the energy rating approach different solar-based solutions for building façades, including different PV modules, ST and PVT collectors. A deep analysis has been carried out based on a 2-year experimental mock-up dataset. The results show that PVT solutions can easily contribute more than single PV for a wide variety of operating conditions while their thermal contribution could be close to the ST collectors for low temperature applications such as heat pump combination.
Keywords
PVT, façade, energy rating.