Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) can contribute to the decarbonization of the buildings sector. However, existing tools for simulating their energy performance fail to accurately capture the complexity of the environment, design and integration of BIPV, limiting the ability of stakeholders to understand the potential of the technology. Most simulation tools have originally been developed for ground-mounted systems and thus overlook features of BIPV like complex shadings, diverse orientation of modules, or temperature fluctuations due to limited ventilation at the back of the modules. Yet, the capabilities and limitations of modelling tools for BIPV are not understood in detail. Now, Rebecca Jing Yang and colleagues — taking part in the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Technology Collaboration Programme — explore the potential of state-of-the-art tools for the modelling of urban layout, weather data and photovoltaic energy generation and compare the simulation results with energy yield data collected from an existing BIPV project.
The BIPV project is equipped with photovoltaic modules in three configurations: on the rooftop, on the façade, and on a canopy. The researchers find that all of the simulation tools return relatively accurate energy yield results for the rooftop system: this is likely because in this configuration the modules experience similar conditions to ground-mounted systems. Instead, the accuracy of most of the tools is low for the façade and canopy integrations. One of the key reasons is that the models do not account for complex shading effects and, for the façade integration, the vertical or curved orientation of the photovoltaic modules. Yang and team suggest that improved modelling of solar irradiance could help address these issues. Additionally, the research team identify other general areas for improvement such as the need for increased interoperability between the models and the input/output datasets as well as the availability of datasets. The findings offer guidance for developing simulation tools that capture the complexity of BIPV projects.
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