Energy Evaluation and Optimal Design of Semi-transparent Photovoltaic Façade for Office Buildings in Central China

In recent years, interest in building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) has increased considerably. This thesis aims to evaluate the energy performance of semi-transparent photovoltaic façade for office buildings in central China and to propose optimal design based on the evaluation.
In this study, an experimental room was set up in Wuhan, which is typical city of central China in climate. Then, the calculation models for energy evaluation of PV façades are developed and validated based on field experiments. The architectural models were developed with a series of generic office rooms. Finally, the architectural models and validated models were incorporated into the simulations with Energy Plus for energy evaluation of semi-transparent PV façade.
Energy evaluations based on the PV generated electricity were performed in four cities of China. The results show that with the varieties of cities and building orientations, building forms, and materials and arrangements of PV modules, there was a distinct difference in annual power generation of PV façades.
Energy evaluations based on the overall energy consumption were performed for two types of the PV façades in Wuhan. The impacts of the properties of PV glazing and the architecture factors on the overall energy of semi-transparent PV façades was addressed. For example, in large window-to-wall ratio (WWR) office rooms, mono-crystalline semi-transparent PV of high PV coverage ratio (PVR) could be energy efficient. Therefore, use of optimal PVR and WWR based on the combination of room depth and orientation can achieve overall energy consumption saving.
In addition, the suitability of optimal PVR/WWR strategies for PV façades in different architectural conditions was investigated with the consideration of Chinese Design Standard for Energy Efficiency of Public Buildings. The mono-crystalline semi-transparent PV could only achieve a better overall energy performance in the cases of small WWR and small depth room meanwhile amorphous-silicon fail to achieve a better overall energy performance in all cases.