BIPV Energy
Introduction
The amount of sunlight that hits the earth in one hour provides more power than the entire world consumes in one year. Photovoltaic cells are required to convert this source of unlimited, clean energy. Solar cells absorb sunlight and convert it into usable electricity through its semi-conductive properties. However, several aspects affect the amount of energy the photovoltaic system receives and the efficiency of the solar cells. In particular, building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) have many factors that affect the system’s performance, including the location, elevation, colour of the modules, and orientation.
Solar Cladding
Energy Solar Cladding
Darkness
Light colours
When utilizing a light-coloured panel, a higher amount of sunlight is reflected than absorbed. The high rate of reflected sunlight will result in lower solar energy generation and lower electricity produced by the BIPV system.
Dark colours
When utilizing a dark-coloured panel, more sunlight is absorbed into the solar cell than reflected off the module—the high rate of absorbed energy results in higher solar energy generation and more electricity production.
Energy Solar Cladding
Colour
Solar Efficiency
Solar Railing
Energy Solar Railing
Transparency
With Mitrex SolaRail, customers have design freedom to meet the aesthetic they desire. The transparency and colour of the glass can be customised depending on the project. When selecting less transparent glass, the performance of the solar system is high. Lower glass transparency allows us to embed more solar cells into the glass railing, so more sunlight is absorbed by the system, producing more energy.
In comparison, more transparent railing glass has less energy generation due to reduced sunlight absorption. Our Mitrex SolaRail glass is strategically engineered to allow sunlight to pass through the medium with ease and reach the solar cell, where it will then be absorbed to generate energy, all while seamlessly integrating the solar components into the glass.
Solar Glass
Energy Solar Glass
Cells Arrangement
Mitrex Solar Glass is fully customizable to meet the aesthetic vision of a structure. At Mitrex, we have developed several approaches to integrate solar cells into glass surfaces to optimize energy generation while incorporating them into the building facade.
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The different options include: changing the transparency of the solar glass, altering the solar cell arrangement to allow for non-solar and solar areas on the same pane, and creating a gradient of solar cells that transition from clear glass to obstructed glass.
Energy Solar Glass
Transparency
These different solar glass options produce different amounts of energy depending on the concentration of solar cells on the glass panes—the more solar cells on a piece of glass, the more power can be generated.
Lower glass transparency allows us to embed more solar cells into the glass, so more energy is produced. In comparison, more transparent glass has less energy generation.
BIPV Energy
Location
Different geographical locations receive different amounts of sunlight, which affects the energy generation of a solar system. The more sun exposure the integrated solar modules receive, the more energy it produces. Sun exposure is generally measured in the annual sunlight hours of a specific geographical location, which is affected by that region’s climatic conditions.Â
Another aspect regarding the location of the building and its impact on energy generation is shadowing. Suppose a building has many shaded areas; for example, due to other structures blocking sunlight, less solar energy will be generated from the system. At Mitrex, we provide a full shade analysis for every project to ensure that we account for the impact on the system size.
BIPV Energy
Cardinal Direction
The position of the solar modules on a building is a fundamental consideration for any BIPV system. Different sides of a building receive different amounts of sunlight based on the sun’s orientation. Depending on the photovoltaics’ placement on the building, the incident angle varies, which ultimately affects solar energy generation.
The ideal elevation varies depending on the geographical location. For example, south-facing solar modules in Toronto, Canada receive more sunlight than the north-facing side of the building; however, this may not be the case in another city, depending on the sun’s position. At Mitrex, we account for varying energy production on all the building elevations to provide an accurate system size analysis for our clients.
Total Annual Sunlight Hours
2450Please note: Annual sunlight hours displayed are based on historical averages calculated at verticle angle, factoring in loss due to weather conditions and soiling.
BIPV Energy
Orientation
When photovoltaics are oriented horizontally on a building, more energy is being produced by the system because there is more solar irradiation. In comparison, when solar modules are vertically integrated onto a structure, it is capturing less solar energy and therefore generates less electricity. Although the vertical orientation has less solar irradiance, it is still advantageous because this surface area would otherwise produce zero electricity.
The ideal orientation for building-integrated photovoltaics is a tilted angle towards the sunlight, as this maximizes the area of absorption on the solar modules.
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