Experiment and simulation to determine the optimum orientation of building-integrated photovoltaic on tropical building façades considering annual daylight performance and energy yield

Abstract

Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) on vertical façades is a potential PV application in today's buildings. The performance of BIPV on façades is significantly influenced by the façade orientation. For tropical cities, the optimum façade orientation, in terms of maximum energy yield and daylight performance, cannot be simply determined, due to relatively symmetrical sun path throughout the day. This study therefore aims to determine the optimum orientation for BIPV on tropical building façades. To achieve the objective, experiment, modelling, and computational simulation are conducted to evaluate the BIPV energy yield and to predict the indoor daylight performance in a scale-model building with a 105Wp monocrystalline silicon PV, facing each cardinal orientation in Bandung, Indonesia. The South orientation yields practically zero ASE1000,250, providing the best annual daylight performance, and yielding the most desirable value in four out of five daylight metrics. The greatest annual energy yield is at the North orientation, providing 179–186 kWh (95% prediction interval) per year, but with larger uncertainty compared to that at the South, due to direct sunlight occurrence. Based on three different objective functions, the South orientation is considered optimum for placing the BIPV panel on the prototype façade in the location.

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