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ScienceDirect
Energy
EnergyProcedia
Procedia148 (2018) 000–000
00 (2017) 479–486
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering Association (ATI 2018),
73rd Conference of the Italian
12–14Thermal Machines
September 2018, Engineering
Pisa, Italy Association (ATI 2018),
12–14 September 2018, Pisa, Italy
Estimation of the performance of a BIPV façade in working
Estimation of International
The 15th the performance ofonaDistrict
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conditions throughSymposium
real monitoring and simulation Cooling
conditions through real monitoring and simulation
AssessingAlice
the feasibility of using
Bellazziaa*, Lorenzo Belussithea, Italo
heatMeroni
demand-outdoor
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Alice Bellazzi a long-term
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Lorenzo Belussi district
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Meronidemand
ITC-CNR, via Lombardia 49, 20098, San Giuliano Milanese, Italy
forecast
a
ITC-CNR, via Lombardia 49, 20098, San Giuliano Milanese, Italy
a,b,c
I. Andrić *, A. Pinaa, P. Ferrãoa, J. Fournierb., B. Lacarrièrec, O. Le Correc
Abstract
a
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
b
Abstract Veolia Recherche & Innovation, 291 Avenue Dreyfous Daniel, 78520 Limay, France
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greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the heat
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climate Ltd. and building renovation policies, heat demand in the future could decrease,
conditions
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Keywords: BIPV; energy efficiency; operating temperature; experimental campaign
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1.(the
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error in annual demand was lower than 20% for all weather scenarios considered). However, after introducing renovation
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improve the accuracy
* Corresponding author. of heat
Tel.: demand estimations.
+39-02-9806213; fax: +39-02-98280088
* E-mail address:author.
Corresponding alice.bellazzi@itc.cnr.it
Tel.: +39-02-9806213; fax: +39-02-98280088
© E-mail
2017 The Authors.
address: Published by Elsevier Ltd.
alice.bellazzi@itc.cnr.it
Peer-review
1876-6102 under
© 2018 Theresponsibility of the
Authors. Published byScientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
Elsevier Ltd.
Cooling.
This is an open
1876-6102 access
© 2018 Thearticle under
Authors. the CC BY-NC-ND
Published license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
by Elsevier Ltd.
Selection
This is an and
openpeer-review under
access article responsibility
under of the scientific
the CC BY-NC-ND licensecommittee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Association
Keywords:
Selection and(ATI
Heat 2018).
demand;under
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responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering
Association (ATI 2018).

1876-6102 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

1876-6102 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines
Engineering Association (ATI 2018).
10.1016/j.egypro.2018.08.123
480 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486
2 Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

Buildings (ZEB), has defined different set of specific rules thought to strongly reduce the energy consumption of
buildings and their environmental impact in terms of GHG emissions, supporting the improvement of energy
performance of buildings and, at the same time, the diffusion of solutions involving renewable energies [2].
Within Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV), photovoltaic (PV) panels are incorporated within building
components, like facades, roofs, windows and shading devices. During the last 15 years, double skin facades have
become important architectural elements in buildings’ construction especially in combination with integrated PV
panels [3]. The recent targets related to ZEB cause a growing interest in RES and in particular in BIPV [4],
becoming one of the fastest growing segments of the solar industry worldwide with an capacity growth of 50% or
more from 2011 to 2017 [5]. Following the advantages of building integration, the actual directives have set targets
for using solar PV in building sector since PV integration in building facades represents a significant progress in
urban solar PV applications [6]. The BIPV module has been experiencing a significant increase, particularly through
the development of new thin-film solar cells allowing easy installation and competitive costs [7]. The advantage of
integrated photovoltaics over common non-integrated systems is that the initial cost can be offset by reducing
normal construction costs of building materials and labor for parts of the building replaced by the BIPV modules.
Despite the interest and the diffusion of this technology, studies and researchers are still needed to face existing
challenges [8], [9].
It is well established that several variables strongly affect the electrical yield of BIPV. The operating cell
temperature (TC) is a fundamental parameter for the evaluation of the performance of a BIPV module [10], [11]:
external air temperature (Ta), wind velocity (VW), solar radiation flux (GT) and type of mounting of the PV modules
(freestanding, roof or façade) affect the T C values. Several methods were developed for the evaluation of the
electrical and thermal behavior of the PV panels [12], many of them based on a steady state approach [13], [14].
As part of the research project, a module with integrated ceramic thin film solar cells of amorphous silicon will be
developed and implemented, based on the research and development carried out in previous activity [15]. In this
paper, the global efficiency and the electric production of the system were assessed through a monitoring campaign
of the environmental and energy variables in real working conditions and a numerical model aimed at comparing the
performance of the system with other configurations.

Nomenclature

BIPV Building-Integrated Photovoltaic

GNTE Solar radiation at Nominal Terrestrial Environmental
 Irradiance coefficient
Gref Reference solar radiation
GSTC Solar radiation at Standard Test Conditions
GT Solar radiation
 Panel efficiency
std Panel efficiency at Standard Test Conditions
IPm Maximum power point circuit
ISc Short circuit current
LCM miscellaneous capture losses
LCT thermal capture losses
NOCT Nominal Operating Cell Temperature
Pm Nominal power
PTc PV power generation
PV Photovoltaic
Ta Air temperature
Ta,STC Temperature at Standard Test Conditions
Tb Back side temperature
TC Operating temperature
Ts Surface temperature
 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486 481
Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 3

Va Air velocity
Voc Maximum system voltage
VPm Maximum power point voltage
VW Wind speed
YA Array yield
YR Reference yield
YT Modified reference yield
ZEB Zero Energy Building

2. Method

The main focus of this research, carried out for three years, is the study the performance of a BIPV façade
consisting in ventilated ceramic modules integrated with a silicon amorphous PV panels. The experimental
campaign provided the analysis of different configurations with different objectives: thermal performance of the
ventilated façade, effect on the thermal comfort of indoor environment, production of electric energy and related
efficiency, numerical method for the assessment of the performance and so on.
The assessment of the performance of the BIPV façade in terms of energy production and efficiency was carried
out through a specific monitoring activity between June and September 2015 aimed at detecting all the
environmental variables that could affect the energy production. The monitored energy outputs of the experimental
campaign have been compared with the result of a theoretical tool and, finally, the performance of the system was
compared with those of other commercial PV systems.

2.1. Experimental setup

The ventilated façade was made of ceramic tiles arranged in five columns and integrated with silicon amorphous
PV panels. The five columns of the façade are composed by 12 tiles of size 0.60 x 0.60 m, mounted on a steel
structure. The active area of each tile is about 0.23 m2, with a coverage ratio of about 64% with respect to the size of
the ceramic tile. The total active area of the PV façade is 13.76 m2 with a nominal solar generation power of 895.10
W.
The characteristics of the single PV module are reported in Table 1. The data are measured under standard test
condition STC: Irradiance of 1000 W/m2, AM 1.5 and cell temperature of 25°C.

Table 1. Thin film solar modules specifications

Characteristics Abbreviation Values
Nominal area A 0.057
Nominal power Pm 3.73 W
Maximum Power Point Voltage VPm 25.9 V
Maximum Power Point Circuit IPm 0.144 A
Maximum System Voltage Voc 35.3 V
Short Circuit Current Isc 0.19 V
Number of Cells in series - 22
Number of Cells in parallel - 1
Temperature coefficient - power - -0.15%/K

The overall system was installed in a 3 stories laboratory building completely equipped with sensors to detect the
thermal and energy behavior of the module. The sensors were installed at 3 different heights, as illustrated in Figure
1. The monitoring setup consists of 3 modules:
482 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486
4 Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

 An external weather monitoring station located on the roof of the laboratory that records the following climatic
variables: external air temperature, wind velocity and direction, direct and diffuse solar radiation, rainfall;
 Monitoring equipment of the air and surface temperature (Ts and Ta) and the air velocity in the gap (Va) within
the BIPV system, as described in Figure 1. In every point of measure, the surface temperature sensors were fixed
just on each face of the system and an air temperature and air velocity sensors have been placed in the cavity.
This scheme is repeated at 3 different heights. Furthermore, 3 pyranometers were installed in proximity of the 3
different levels of measure to detect the global solar radiation on the façade.
 A separate acquisition system for every BIPV column to detect the electricity production. Furthermore, the
potential difference and the inverter input power were measured.

Va

Fig. 1. Experimental setup: (a) Monitoring levels; (b) 3-stories building laboratory; (c) Sensors installation

2.2. Numerical model

The most common expression used to define the power generated by a PV panel is given by:

PTc  PSTC  1    Tc  Ta ,STC  (1)

Where PSTC is the PV nominal power under standard test conditions STC (temperature T a,STC = 25 °C and
irradiance GSTC = 1000 W/m2, AM = 1.5) operating at the maximum power point.
The operating temperature of the photovoltaic cell can be expressed as a function of the back side temperature of
the module, Tb, the incident Solar Radiation, GT, and the in plane reference solar radiation (assumed to be 1000
W/m2), Gref, and the temperature difference between the outer side and the inner side, T, according to the following
formula:

GT
Tc  Tb   T (2)
Gref

One of the models frequently use used in literature for determining the operating temperature of photovoltaic
cells temperature involves the use of the Nominal Operating Cell Temperature (TNOCT) [13]. TNOCT is defined as the
temperature of a photovoltaic cell in the Nominal Terrestrial Environmental (NTE, where G NTE = 800 W/m2, Ta =
20°C, VW equal to 1 m/s), in an open-rack mounted, open-circuit module tilted perpendicular to the solar noon. The
module NOCT is highly dependent on the mode of installation and, in the case of a BIPV façade, it can undergo
 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486 483
Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 5

important changes. Specifically, the PV module performance gets worse with the reduction of the air gap, up to the
boundary of absence of such a layer. In this case, the heat flow of the PV module take place only by convection
from the upper surface, with a significant increase in surface temperature. An indication of this increase is provided
by PVFORM developed by U.S. Sandia National Laboratory [16].
Note the NOCT of the photovoltaic module, the cell temperature in real working condition can be calculated with
the following equation:

GT
Tc  Ta   NOCT  20 (3)
800

where:
Ta is the ambient temperature, in °C;
GT is the in-plane irradiance, in W/m2;
20 is the reference air temperature, in °C;
800 is the GNTE, in W/m2.
The reduction of the solar module efficiency due to the increase of the outdoor temperature is calculated as the
variation of the efficiency of the module itself (), using the following equation:

  std  1    Tc  Tc,std  (4)

where:
std is the efficiency coefficient of the PV module;
 is the irradiance coefficient of the PV module;
Tc,std is the operating temperature of the PV module.
The actual efficiency of the photovoltaic façade is determined by dividing the specific power produced, P pv, and
the specific in-plane irradiance of the panel, Isol.
Once the system TC has been determined, it is possible to estimate the system losses: thermal capture losses
(LCT), linked to the operating temperature of the cell, and miscellaneous capture losses (L CM), linked to the electrical
energy transmission system downstream of the inverter, and other environmental conditions. To calculate these
losses the following factors are introduced: the reference yield (Y R) defined as the ratio between the incident solar
energy on the considered plane and a reference power equal to 1 kW/m2 the reference yield modified to consider the
effect of the TC (YT) and the array yield (YA). YT and TA are defined by:

YT  YR  1    Tc  Tc,std  (5)

E
YA  (6)
PSTC

LCT and LCM are given by the following expression:

LCT  YR  YT (7)

LCM  YT  YA (8)

Where LCT and LCM are the thermal and miscellaneous capture losses.
484 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486
6 Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

3. Results

The total amount of energy produced over the experimental period is equal to 225 kWh. The Y A is recorded 2.51
kWh/kWp/d in the same way LCT and LCM are recorded between 0.11 and 0.12 kWh/kWp/d respectively (see Figure
2).

Fig. 2. Normalized energy per month

Using the above equations the electrical production of different types of photovoltaic systems was estimated;
Error! Reference source not found. shows the technical data of the modules used in this study.

Table 2. Thin film solar modules specifications

Type nom  NOCT
a-Si 5.80% 0.21% 50°C
CIGS 11.2% 0.45% 50°C
c-Si 13.8% 0.49% 50°C

For each of the photovoltaic modules the Y A were was determined (Figure 3). During the months under
consideration, the YA of the BIPV module monitored assumes an average value of 2.70 kWh/kWp/d, lower than the
value assumed during the calculation hours, i.e. 2.80 kWh/kWp/d. Compared to other types of photovoltaic
modules, it is noticeable that the BIPV has a slightly lower performance.

Fig. 3. Monthly array yield for different type of PV modules

 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486 485
Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 7

Comparing the power actually measured and the power calculated using the NOCT method, we note an almost
perfect linearity between the values (Pearson's correlation index, = 0.99); moreover, the mean squared deviation for
both methods is equal to 1.19 W/m2, an acceptable value if referred to the average daily production. Fig. 4 shows the
correlation between the average hourly power production by the BIPV system.

Fig. 4. Monthly array yield for different type of PV modules

The reliability of the system is further obtained by considering the power of the array in different climatic
conditions. In particular, 4 days were considered in order to analyze the system in different climatic conditions: calm
and sunny day, windy day, sunny day and covered day. On all the days analyzed the trend of the real and calculated
hourly powers is very similar (the standard deviation of the percentage difference is between 2% and 7%).

Fig. 5. Calm (a), windy (b), sunny (c) and cloudy (d) days: Hourly trend of the specific power produced (W/m2)
486 Alice Bellazzi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 479–486
8 Alice Bellazzi/ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

From the point of view of the operating temperature there is a greater deviation between the calculated data and
the actual data, especially in the case of a sunny day and a day with a covered sky. The algorithm used to determine
the operating temperature of the cell is proportional to the solar radiation and the external temperature; in situations
of high and low solar radiation, the model respectively underestimates and overestimates the operative temperature.

4. Conclusion

The present paper shows an experimental campaign aimed at analysis the thermal and energy performance of a
BIPV consisting in a ventilated ceramic façade integrated with silicon amorphous thin film solar cells. The system
was tested on a laboratory building completely equipped to detect environmental, thermal and energy variables
related necessary to assess the real performance. Furthermore the numerical model NOCT was applied to calculate
the TC, the efficiency and the energy production in order to compare the performance of the current system with
other ones. The calculated and measured values show a good correlation with a low RSME. The performance of the
current system shows a slightly lower performance than the other ones.

References

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