Received: 30 November 2018 Revised: 12 March 2019 Accepted: 30 March 2019

DOI: 10.1002/ep.13239

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Techno-economic feasibility of building attached photovoltaic

systems for the various climatic conditions of Iran

Mohammad Sadjad Karimi1 | Farivar Fazelpour2 | Marc A. Rosen3 | Mehrzad Shams4

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering, South Tehran Branch, Abstract
Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran The integration of solar energy systems into buildings via photovoltaic (PV) and other
2
Department of Energy Systems Engineering,
technologies can curb the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by buildings.
Faculty of Engineering, South Tehran Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran However, the performance of solar energy systems is highly dependent on climatic and
3
Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, economic conditions. In this regard, the techno-economic feasibility of building
University of Ontario Institute of Technology,
Oshawa, Ontario, Canada attached PV systems are studied for three scenarios considering three cities of Iran
4
Department of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. namely Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish Island, which have different climatic conditions. The
Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran
result shows that the PV systems can annually meet 4.5–20% of the electricity needs
Correspondence for Tehran, 3.0–13% for Tabriz and 2.0–11.5% for Kish Island. Moreover, roof mounted
Farivar Fazelpour, Department of Energy
PV systems were found to be a better alternative to envelope attached systems in
Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, technical and economic terms. The payback period for the solar energy systems was
Tehran, Iran.
found to be between 8.7 and 14.3 years for Tehran, 14.2 and 22.6 years for Tabriz, and
Email: f_fazelpour@azad.ac.ir
11.6 and 21.1 for Kish Island.

KEYWORDS
economic assessment, electricity generation, energy performance, photovoltaic, solar energy

1 | I N T RO D UC T I O N the low environmental footprint. The global PV capacity reached

Representing over 40% of current global primary energy consumption
and 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, buildings are one of the
prime sources of GHG emissions.1–3 GHG emissions cause or contrib-
ute to numerous environmental issues such as global warming and cli-
mate change. Moreover, the burning of fossil fuels to produce energy
also releases significant amounts of the harmful gases lead to air pollu-
tion and acid precipitation, especially in countries with high rates of
energy consumption like Iran.4,5 Iran with a population of over 80 million
is the eighth highest GHG emitter worldwide. Curbing the amounts of
GHGs produced by buildings could allow governments to combat cli-
mate change and its associated risks.6,7 In this regard, solar energy tech-
nologies such as solar thermal and photovoltaic (PV) collectors can be
integrated into buildings to supply the building energy needs, particu-
303 GW at the end of 2016.10 The PV systems that replace conven-
tional construction materials in building envelopes such as rooves,
façades, and skylights, are termed building integrated photovoltaic
(BIPV) systems, while the systems that are added to buildings after
construction and generally are mounted on a separate structure, are
known as building attached photovoltaic (BAPV) systems. Currently, a
broad range of state-of-the-art PV technologies such as thin-film cad-
mium telluride (CdTe), frameless glass–glass PV modules are available.
To a great degree, these provide visually appealing building designs.11
Extending over the solar belt, Iran receives an annual average of
20–30 MJ/m2 solar irradiation and enjoys nearly 300 sunny days over
two third of its area, indicating the significant potential for the coun-
try for its solar energy applications.12,13 However, the application of

larly heating, ventilation, and air conditioning loads which account for PV systems is still limited in the country, primarily due to the low
approximately 50% of the building energy consumption. 8,9 costs of fossil fuels. To encourage the development of PV systems in
The utilization of solar PV systems has been growing rapidly in Iran, the government adopted policies to purchase the electricity pro-
recent years due to declining costs, technology advancements, and duced by PVs at a reasonable cost. Building envelopes can be used to

Environ Prog Sustainable Energy. 2019;e13239. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/ep © 2019 American Institute of Chemical Engineers 1 of 13
https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.13239
2 of 13
install BIPV/BAPV systems without any need for additional land use
or rent payment.
To ensure the sustainability of these systems and avoid invest-
ment risk, their technical and economic viability should be assessed.
A large number of studies address the feasibility of PV systems for
electrification of buildings. For instance, Wang et al. evaluated the
economic performance of 3 kWp BAPV and 10 kW BIPV systems in
Shanghai in terms of net present value (NPV) and payback period.14
The payback period was found to be 4.2 and 3.1 years for BAPV and
BIPV systems, respectively. A building located in the temperate cli-
mate of Catania in Italy was renovated using BIPV systems15 and a
parametric study was carried out considering various types of PV sys-
tems, orientations, number of floors, and climates. It was found that if
50% of the electricity generated by PV is consumed by the building,
the payback period is almost 9 years. The feasibility of BIPV systems
was studied for 20 buildings in Yasar University in Turkey and showed
that over 23% of the building energy needs can be supplied by BIPV
systems annually.16 However, an hourly analysis of the energy perfor-
mance indicated that there is a mismatch between energy demand
and supply. To reduce the energy deficit in Cameroon, a rooftop BIPV
system was analyzed considering a daily energy need of 3 kW.17 It
was found that the primary energy consumption can be reduced with
the technology by about 66 kWh/m2. The performance of an
86.4 kW rooftop PV system with an area of 59 m2 at a tilt angle of
25
located in the town of Awali, Bahrain was investigated over
18 months.18 It was concluded that the practical output of the system
was far less than the theoretical one. Moreover, this system can
reduce GHG emissions by approximately 9 tons of CO2 annually. A
life cycle cost (LCC) analysis combined with a pixel method for visuali-
19
zation of economic performance of PV projects was conducted. The
study identified that BIPV systems could be competitive with rooftop
systems. Ghazali et al. evaluated the technical and economic perfor-
mance of vertical PV facades for use in high-rise buildings in Malaysia
using the System Advisor Model tool. 20
The annual energy output
and the payback period of the systems were estimated to be
400–700 MWh and 12 years, respectively. The payback period of
three BIPV systems including amorphous silicon, single-crystalline sili-
con, and multi-crystalline silicon were assessed and it was found that
the energy payback period of these systems are far below the LCC,
suggesting that the systems are theoretically feasible.21 A genetic
algorithm was adopted to minimize building costs and maximize BIPV
efficiency considering PV configuration, building orientation and
dimension, and window to wall ratio (WWR) as variables.22 The opti-
mums were found to have the minimum WWR and the optimal orien-
tation of PV systems was found to be at 90–255
azimuth angles.
Aristizabal et al. experimentally studied the energy performance of a
6 kW grid-connected roof mounted PV array under Colombian cli-
matic conditions.23 The results indicated that by generating
471,000 kWh/month electricity, the array can meet national and
international standards. The application of rooftop PV systems was
examined for Saudi Arabia and it was shown that nearly 21% of apart-
ment and 28% of villa rooftop areas can be used for PV applications.24
Ali et al. assessed the techno-economic viability of rooftop PV
KARIMI ET AL.
systems in the Maldives and determined that 4.8–8.0 GWh electricity
can be produced by these systems considering the available area for
solar energy and other factors, which in turn can bring numerous envi-
ronmental and economic benefits.25 Three roof mounted PV systems
that were in operation for 2 years, each with a rated capacity of 5 kW
located in Palestine, were technically and economically studied.26 The
study identified that 4.81 and 1,756 kWh/kWp electricity can be pro-
duced on daily and annual bases, respectively; and consequently
suggested expanding utilization of these systems.
Building attached PV systems are still in their early stage of its
development in many countries, particularly in Iran, and little attention
has often been paid to its application. The performance of these sys-
tems depends highly on climatic and geographic conditions and their
placement. Thus, in this study, we examine various configurations of
these systems to partially supply domestic electricity needs. Overall,
the primary goal of this study is to techno-economically analyze the
feasibility of building attached PV systems for three scenarios consid-
ering three distinctive climatic conditions in three cities in Iran, includ-
ing Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish Island. In this regard, a six-story hotel
building model is developed in DesignBuilder software and its energy
performance is simulated for different climatic conditions. In the first
scenario, only roof mounted PV systems are simulated. Then, the
south facing envelope is equipped with PV modules and, in the last
scenario, both roof mounted and building attached systems are taken
into account. Finally, an economic assessment is conducted to find
the optimum configuration of the PV systems.
2 | METHODOLOGY
To meet the objective of this study for assessing the technical and eco-
nomic performance of BIPV systems under distinctive climatic condi-
tions and by designing different scenarios, DesignBuilder software,
which is an advanced energy simulation tool, is used to determine the
energy consumption and generation of the building. Then, the systems
are economically evaluated to assess and avert investment risks. Ini-
tially, a typical hotel building model is developed in DesignBuilder; then
the energy consumption and production of the building is simulated
considering several scenarios. Finally, an economic assessment is con-
ducted to justify the utilization of PV systems.
2.1 | Building description
A six-story hotel building with a total area of 12,071 m2 is selected as
the case study and the building specifications are summarized in
Table 1. The building comprises a lobby, a conference room, restau-
rants, a play area, a gym, an office area, and rooms. A two-dimensional
plan of the building is shown in Figure 1. The construction material
and their properties are listed in Table 2. Based on the ASHRAE
90.1-2013 standard, the building is equipped with a packaged termi-
nal heat pump that comprises a direct expansion (DX) heating coil, a
DX cooling coil, an electric supplemental heating coil, a constant vol-
ume supply air fan, and an outdoor air mixer.27
KARIMI ET AL. 3 of 13


TABLE 1 Building specifications dI
=0 ð1Þ
dV v=0
Parameter Value
Building total area 12,071 m2 The four parameters including IL, ref, IO, ref, g, and Rs take on empiri-

Activity Hotel cal values that are calculated from the data available in manufacturers'

Window-to-wall ratio 30%

catalogue.
The IV equation of the Figure 2 can be expressed as follows:
Glazing type Double glazing (two panes
of 3 mm thick clear glass 
 
q
with a 13 mm air gap) I = IL −Io exp ðV + IRs Þ − 1 ð2Þ
γkT c

2.2 | PV simulation where I, V, k, Tc, q, Rs, and γ denote current flowing through the PV
module and load, load voltage, Boltzmann constant, module tempera-
To estimate the PV system electricity output, DesignBuilder software
ture, electron charge constant, module series constant, and empirical
applies a four-parameter equivalent circuit model (equivalent to the
PV curve-fitting parameter, respectively.
one-diode method), as shown in Figure 2. The slope of the current–
The module photocurrent IL varies linearly with incident radiation
voltage (IV) curve is taken to be zero at the short circuit condition, as
10,28 as follows:
follows :

F I G U R E 1 Two-dimensional plan of
the hotel building

TABLE 2 Construction materials used and their properties

Building Thickness Density Specific heat Thermal conductivity

component Material (m) (kg/m3) (kJ/kg.K) (W/m.K)
External walls Brick work 0.1 1,700 800 0.84
XPS extruded polystyrene—CO2 blown 0.0795 35 1,400 0.034
Concrete block 0.1 1,400 1,000 0.51
Gypsum plastering 0.013 1,000 1,000 0.4
Internal walls Gypsum plaster board 0.25 900 1,000 0.25
Air gap 0.1 - - -
Gypsum plaster board 0.25 900 1,000 0.25
Roof Asphalt 0.01 2,100 1,000 0.7
MW glass wool (rolls) 0.14 12 840 0.04
Air gap 0.2 - - -
Plasterboard 0.013 2,800 896 0.25
Floor Urea formaldehyde foam 0.1327 10 1,400 0.04
Cast concrete 0.1 2000 1,000 1.13
Floor screed 0.07 1,200 840 0.41
Timber flooring 0.03 650 1,200 0.14
4 of 13 KARIMI ET AL.




∂V oc γk Isc, ref T c μisc qε
= μvoc = ln + − 3+ ð11Þ
∂T c q Io, ref Isc, ref AkT c, ref

where μvoc, μisc, and ε denote temperature coefficient of the open cir-
cuit, temperature coefficient of the short circuit and bandgap, respec-
tively. Also, A is defined as follows:
γ
A= ð12Þ
Ns
where Ns is the number of cells in the module.
FIGURE 2 Four-parameter equivalent circuit model

GT
IL = IL, ref ð3Þ 2.2.1 | Validation
GT, ref
A specific PV module under Chicago weather conditions was simu-
Here, IL,ref, GT, and GT,ref are module photocurrent at reference
lated in EnergyPlus and the results were compared with an indepen-
condition, total incident radiation, and incident radiation at reference
2 dent program: “DesignPro-G v5.0.”29 The results were found to be in
condition, respectively. GT, ref has a constant value of 1,000 W/m .
The diode reverse saturation current Io correlates with tempera- a reasonable agreement.
To assess the validity of results, a simple three-story office build-
ture and can be written as follows:

3 ing as presented in a selected article30 is simulated in DesignBuilder.
Io Tc
= ð4Þ BIPV windows are used in the building and the properties of PV are
Io, ref T c, ref
summarized in Table 3. The building three-dimensional model is also
where Io,ref and Tc,ref denote diode reverse saturation current and shown in Figure 3. As depicted in Figure 4, the findings of this study
module temperature at reference conditions, respectively. The current are in good agreement with that of the previous study.30
is an implicit function of the voltage in Equation (2). When IO and IL
are calculated by Equations (3) and (4), the Newton method is used to
compute the PV current. Moreover, an iterative method gives the cur- 2.2.2 | PV system specifications and considered
rent (Imp) and voltage (Vmp) at the maximum power point. scenarios
IL,ref, Io,ref, and γ can be algebraically separated. Initially, the current Three scenarios are considered for PV systems. First, only rooftop PV
and voltage are substituted into Equation 2 at the open-circuit (oc), systems are considered and simulated. In the second scenario, the PV
short circuit (sc), and maximum power (mp) conditions: systems are attached to the south facing building envelope as the south

 
q V oc, ref facing façade receives more solar radiation than the other sides. In the
0 = IL, ref −Io, ref exp V oc, ref −1 − ð5Þ
γkT c, ref Rsh third scenario, both the roof and southern envelope are equipped with
PVs. The roof mounted PV system is arranged in 14 rows each with

  34 modules in series, while the south facing envelop has 5 rows each
qIsc, ref Rs Isc, ref Rs
Isc, ref = IL, ref −Io, ref exp −1 − ð6Þ
γkT c, ref Rsh with 39 modules in series and 1 row with 34 modules, as shown in

  Figure 5. In this study, monocrystalline silicon PV modules are used.
q
Imp, ref = IL, ref −Io, ref exp ðVmp, ref + Imp, ref Rs Þ − 1 The specifications of the PV module are listed in Table 4.
γkTc, ref
ð7Þ
Vmp, ref + Imp, ref Rs
−
Rsh
2.3 | Site description
In the above equations, the term −1 can be omitted as it has negligi-
ble impact on the right side of the equation. The following equations The efficiency of PV systems depends heavily on climatic conditions
that isolate the three parameters can be obtained after rearrangement: such as temperature and solar irradiation. Thus, three cities in Iran with
different climates are studied, including Tehran, Tabriz, and Bandar
IL, ref ≈Isc, ref ð8Þ
Abas. Geographical information for the cities is given in Table 5 and the
0  1 monthly direct and diffuse irradiation levels are shown in Figures 6–8.
q V , − V , + I , R
γ=@ A
mp ref oc ref mp ref s
 ð9Þ
I , ref
kT c, ref ln 1 − Imp sc, ref
2.4 | Economic analysis
Idc, ref
Io, ref =  ð10Þ An economic analysis is generally performed to validate the applica-
exp γkTocc,, ref
qV ref
tion of PV systems in buildings and to prove the concept in order the
To specify the last parameter, the derivative of the voltage should building owners get interested in investment. Several factors affect
be taken with respect to temperature at the reference short circuit the economic performance of PV systems, including capital cost,
condition. That is, installation cost, operation and maintenance costs, and electricity
KARIMI ET AL. 5 of 13

TABLE 3 The properties of photovoltaic (PV) in the selected this issue, the NPV, which is the difference between the present value
article30 of the cash inflows and outflows, is also calculated:
!
Parameters Value
NCFt
NPV = Σnt= 0 ð14Þ
Short circuit current (A) 6.20 ð1 + rÞt
Module current at maximum power (A) 5.6
Open circuit voltage (V) 60
Module voltage at maximum power (V) 50.5
3 | RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Rated electric power output (W) 48,000

Abbreviation: PV, photovoltaic. Having simulated the energy performance of the building for the three

prices. The payback period (PB), which indicates the period of time scenarios considered, the results are presented as follow.

required to recover the initial outlay, is calculated as follows:

3.1 | Scenario no. 1: Rooftop PV systems

Ctot
PB = ð13Þ
NCF In this scenario, only rooftop PV systems are taken into account. The
energy consumption and generation for Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish
Here, Ctot and NCF denote the capital cost and net cash flow, Island are illustrated in Figures 9–11. For Tehran, electricity consump-
respectively. However, the time value of money is neglected in PB tion peaks in July and August reaching to its top values of 174 and
and thus, it could be to some degree nonrepresentative. To overcome 175 MWh, respectively. The maximum generation of 23.4 and
23.2 MWh from the PV systems occurs in August and September,
respectively. As illustrated in Figure 9, the maximum electricity con-
sumption, which is mainly due to building cooling system, often coin-
cides with the maximum generation, which occurs in summer. The
minimum generation takes place in the month of December
(13.2 MWh) with the lowest electricity use is in February (96.9 MWh).
For Tabriz, as depicted in Figure 10, the highest electricity consump-
tion is in the months of July (153.1 MWh) and August (150.9 MWh)
while the maximum generation occurs in June (16.7 MWh) and July
(15.9 MWh). The lowest electricity use takes place in April (102.6 MWh)
and November (104.6 MWh) whereas the minimum production is in
January and December with values of 6.90 and 6.92 MWh, respectively.
Figure 11 shows the monthly electrical energy use and generation
for the building located in Kish Island. The minimum consumption
occurs in the months of February (116.7 MWh) and January
(123.3 MWh) while the maximum occurs in July (223.2 MWh) and
August (220.2 MWh). Electricity generation reaches to its high value
of 16.3 MWh in May and 16.2 MWh in April, whereas it drops to a
FIGURE 3 The building model in the selected article30 minimum of 13.1 MWh in December and 13.4 MWh in November.

F I G U R E 4 The electricity generation

of the building in present study and
Fazelpour et al.'s study
6 of 13 KARIMI ET AL.

F I G U R E 5 Configuration of PV systems.
PV, photovoltaic

3.2 | Scenario no. 2: Envelope attached systems for this scenario is presented in Figures 12–14. Figure 12 shows

In the second scenario, the PV modules are attached to the south the electricity consumption and generation for the building situated

facing envelop of the building. The monthly energy performance in Tehran. As shown in these graphs, the maximum generation
takes place in the months of November (8.2 MWh) and October
TABLE 4 PV specifications at STC
(7.8 MWh) while the minimum occurs in June (4.1 MWh) and July
Parameter Value (4.3 MWh). For Tabriz, as illustrated in Figure 13, the maximum
Maximum power (Pmax) 256 Wp production, with values of 5.3 and 4.9 MWh, occurs in October
Open-circuit voltage (Voc) 32.49 V and November, respectively. The minimum is in the months of April
Short-circuit current (Isc) 9.95 A (3.2 MWh) and May (3.3 MWh). For Kish Island (Figure 12), the
Voltage at point of maximum power (Vmpp) 27.53 V electricity generation reaches a high of 5.8 MWh in January and
Current at point of maximum power (Impp) 9.3 A 5.6 MWh in December while it drops to a low of 2.4 MWh in June

Abbreviations: PV, photovoltaic; STC, standard test condition.

and 2.5 MWh in July.

TABLE 5 Geographical information for the cities under study2

Maximum Maximum Minimum dry bulb Minimum wet bulb

dry bulb temperature wet bulb temperature temperature temperature
City Latitude (
) Longitude (
) Altitude (m) in summer (
C) in summer (
C) in winter (
C) in winter (
C)
Tehran 35.41 51.19 1,190 37.2 18.7 −1.3 −1.3
Tabriz 38.05 46.17 1,361 34 16.2 −8.5 −8.5
Kish Island 27.13 53.58 9.8 40.1 25.2 10.9 10.9

F I G U R E 6 Monthly solar direct and

diffuse radiation for Tehran28
KARIMI ET AL. 7 of 13

F I G U R E 7 Monthly solar direct and

diffuse radiation for Tabriz28

F I G U R E 8 Monthly solar direct and

diffuse radiation for Kish Island2

3.3 | Scenario no. 3: Rooftop and envelop attached
systems
In this scenario, both the roof and south facing envelop are equipped
with PV modules. Figures 15–17 depict the electrical energy con-
sumption and generation for the cities under consideration. As indi-
cated in Figure 15, for Tehran, the electricity generation reaches
30.3 MWh in September and 28.8 MWh in August whereas it falls to
19.8 MWh in December and 21 MWh in January. For Tabriz, as
shown in Figure 16, the maximum electricity is produced in the
months of June (20.3 MWh) and July (19.6 MWh) while the minimum
is in January (10.1 MWh) and December (10.4 MWh). The highest
generation takes place in March (20.7 MWh) and October
(20.6 MWh) for Kish Island while the minimum occurs in July
(16.5 MWh) and June (17.0 MWh).

F I G U R E 9 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tehran for
scenario no. 1
8 of 13 KARIMI ET AL.

F I G U R E 1 0 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tabriz for
scenario no. 1

F I G U R E 1 1 Electricity consumption
and generation of Kish Island for
scenario no. 1

In Figure 18, the electricity generation of the building is compared all the scenarios while the minimum occurs in Tabriz. Moreover, it is
for the cities and scenarios investigated in this study. As shown in this observed that the roof-mounted PV systems outperform the PVs
graph, the building located in Tehran has the maximum generation in attached to the building envelope. The monthly and annual solar

F I G U R E 1 2 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tehran for
scenario no. 2
KARIMI ET AL. 9 of 13

F I G U R E 1 3 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tabriz for
scenario no. 2

F I G U R E 1 4 Electricity consumption
and generation of Kish Island for
scenario no. 2

F I G U R E 1 5 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tehran for
scenario no. 3

fractions are listed in Tables 6–8 for Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish Island.
The roof mounted PV system can annually provide 15.1% of the elec-
tricity need of the building while the envelope attached system can
only supply 4.7%.
3.4 | Economic assessment
The results of the economic assessment for the designed scenarios
are presented in Table 9. As presented, the first scenario has the
10 of 13 KARIMI ET AL.

F I G U R E 1 6 Electricity consumption
and generation of Tabriz for
scenario no. 3

F I G U R E 1 7 Electricity consumption
and generation of Kish Island for
scenario no. 3

lowest PB for all the cities, while the second scenario has the Island. For Kish Island, an off-grid hybrid system consisting of a PV-bat-
highest one. Moreover, Tehran has the lowest PB among the cities tery-diesel was studied by Fazelpour et al.13 Although the NPV of the
investigated in this study. The PB varies from 8.7 to 14.3 years for system was significantly higher than the systems proposed in this study,
Tehran, 14.2 to 22.6 years for Tabriz, and 11.6 to 21.1 years for Kish the solar fraction is considerably lower than that of present study for

F I G U R E 1 8 Annual electricity
generation for studied scenarios in
Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish Island
KARIMI ET AL. 11 of 13

TABLE 6 Monthly and annual solar fractions for Tehran TABLE 8 Monthly and annual solar fractions for Kish Island

Month Scenario no. 1 Scenario no. 2 Scenario no. 3 Month Scenario no. 1 Scenario no. 2 Scenario no. 3
January 13.1 6.2 19.3 January 11.3 4.7 16.1
February 16.9 7.0 23.9 February 12.2 4.4 16.6
March 19.0 6.4 25.3 March 10.8 3.2 14.0
April 17.0 4.6 21.6 April 10.0 2.4 12.4
May 16.5 3.4 19.9 May 8.3 1.6 9.9
June 14.1 2.5 16.7 June 7.1 1.2 8.3
July 12.4 2.5 14.9 July 6.3 1.1 7.4
August 13.3 3.1 16.4 August 6.9 1.4 8.3
September 15.3 4.7 20.0 September 7.5 2.0 9.5
October 16.1 6.2 22.3 October 8.4 2.8 11.2
November 17.3 8.2 25.5 November 9.3 3.6 12.9
December 12.3 6.1 18.5 December 10.4 4.4 14.9
Annual 15.1 4.7 19.8 Annual 8.7 2.5 11.1

TABLE 7 Monthly and annual solar fractions for Tabriz

Month Scenario no. 1 Scenario no. 2 Scenario no. 3 TABLE 9 Payback period and NPV of the PV systems
January 4.9 2.3 7.2 Scenario Payback period (year) NPV ($)
February 8.8 3.7 12.5
Tehran 1 8.7 776,000
March 10.8 3.7 14.4
2 14.3 966,000
April 10.7 3.1 13.9
3 10.0 641,000
May 11.0 2.8 13.8
Tabriz 1 14.2 785,000
June 12.5 2.7 15.2
2 22.6 929,000
July 10.4 2.4 12.8
3 16.3 669,000
August 9.7 2.5 12.2
Kish Island 1 11.6 1,148,000
September 11.2 3.6 14.8
2 21.1 1,312,000
October 11.6 4.6 16.2
3 13.7 1,030,000
November 9.9 4.8 14.6
Abbreviations: NPV, net present value; PV, photovoltaic.
December 5.5 2.8 8.3
Annual 9.7 3.2 12.9

simulated. In the second, the south facing envelope is equipped with

which the system depends mainly on diesel generator. Given that the
lifespan of PV systems are nearly 25 years, the implementation of enve-
lope attached systems are not economically efficient for Tehran and
Kish Island. It should be noted that Iran government purchases the elec-
tricity generated by PV systems at a much higher price. Thus, it is also
PV systems, and in the third, both rooftop and envelope attached PV
systems are considered. The main conclusions drawn from the find-
ings as follow:
• The roof mounted PV systems can provide over 15.08, 9.7, and
8.65% of the annual electricity needs in Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish

possible to sell the electricity to the government to gain extra financial
benefits.
4 | CO NC LUSIO N
In this study, the techno-economic feasibility of building attached PV
systems for three distinctive climatic conditions of three cities in Iran,
that is, Tehran, Tabriz, and Kish Island, is assessed considering three
scenarios. In the first scenario, only roof mounted PV systems are
Island, respectively.
• The PV systems attached to building envelope can annually supply
4.74, 3.17, and 2.48% of the electricity demand in Tehran, Tabriz,
and Kish Island, respectively.
• Both roof mounted and envelope attached PV systems can annu-
ally supply 19.83% of the electricity needs in Tehran, 12.86% in
Tabriz and 11.13% in Kish Island.
• The PB of PV systems is found to be between 8.7 and 14.3 years for
Tehran, 11.6 and 21.1 for Tabriz, and 11.6 and 21.1 years for Kish
Island.
12 of 13 KARIMI ET AL.

Overall, the result of this study indicates that the implementation 4. Fazelpour F, Markarian E, Soltani N. Wind energy potential and eco-
of roof top PV systems can be economically feasible for the selected nomic assessment of four locations in Sistan and Balouchestan prov-
ince in Iran. Renew Energy. 2017;109:646-667.
cities investigated in this article. However, the envelop attached sys-
5. Arabzadeh Saheli M, Fazelpour F, Soltani N, Rosen MA. Performance
tems do not offer any major economic benefit. One possible solution analysis of a photovoltaic/wind/diesel hybrid power generation sys-
is that homeowners could sell the electricity generated by PV systems tem for domestic utilization in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Environ
to the government as they purchase electricity at a higher price. Prog Sustain Energy. 2018.
6. Sun X, Gou Z, Lau SS-Y. Cost-effectiveness of active and passive
design strategies for existing building retrofits in tropical climate: case
NOMENCLATURE study of a zero energy building. J Clean Prod. 2018;183:35-45.
7. Farahi S, Fazelpour F. Techno-economic assessment of employing
γ Empirical PV curve-fitting parameter hybrid power system for residential, public, and commercial buildings in
GT total radiation incident on PV array (W/m2) different climatic conditions of Iran. Environ Prog Sustain Energy. 2018.
8. Marin P, Saffari M, de Gracia A, et al. Energy savings due to the use
GT,ref incident radiation at reference conditions (W/m2)
of PCM for relocatable lightweight buildings passive heating and
I current (A) cooling in different weather conditions. Energy Build. 2016;129:
IL module photocurrent (A) 274-283.
IL,ref module photocurrent at reference conditions (A) 9. Verbeke S, Audenaert A. Thermal inertia in buildings: A review of
impacts across climate and building use. Renew Sustain Energy Rev.
Io diode reverse saturation current (A)
2018;82:2300-2318.
Io,ref diode reverse saturation current at reference conditions (A) 10. UIUC L. EnergyPlus engineering document: the reference to energyplus
Isc short-circuit current (A) calculations. United States: US Department of Energy; 2004.
Isc,ref short-circuit current at reference conditions (A) 11. Sorgato MJ, Schneider K, Rüther R. Technical and economic evalua-
tion of thin-film CdTe building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)
Imp current at maximum power point along IV curve (A)
replacing façade and rooftop materials in office buildings in a warm
Imp,ref current at maximum power point along IV curve, at and sunny climate. Renew Energy. 2018;118:84-98.
reference conditions (A) 12. Fazelpour F, Soltani N, Rosen MA. Economic analysis of standalone
K Boltzmann constant (J/K) hybrid energy systems for application in Tehran, Iran. Int J Hydrogen
Energy. 2016;41:7732-7743.
Ns number of individual cells in module
13. Fazelpour F, Soltani N, Rosen MA. Feasibility of satisfying electrical
q electron charge constant (C)
energy needs with hybrid systems for a medium-size hotel on Kish
Rs module series resistance (Ω) Island, Iran. Energy. 2014;73:856-865.
Rsh module shunt resistance (Ω) 14. Wang W, Liu Y, Wu X, et al. Environmental assessments and eco-
Tc module temperature (K) nomic performance of BAPV and BIPV systems in Shanghai. Energy
Build. 2016;130:98-106.
Tc,ref module temperature at reference conditions (K)
15. Evola G, Margani G. Renovation of apartment blocks with BIPV:
Vmp voltage at maximum power point along IV curve (V) energy and economic evaluation in temperate climate. Energy Build.
Vmp,ref voltage at maximum power point along IV curve, at refer- 2016;130:794-810.
ence conditions (V) 16. Costanzo V, Yao R, Essah E, et al. A method of strategic evaluation of
energy performance of building integrated photovoltaic in the urban
Voc open-circuit voltage (V)
context. J Clean Prod. 2018;184:82-91.
Voc,ref open-circuit voltage at reference conditions (V) 17. Ekoe A Akata AM, Njomo D, Agrawal B. Assessment of Building Inte-
PB payback period (years) grated Photovoltaic (BIPV) for sustainable energy performance in tropical
Ctot capital cost ($) regions of Cameroon. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2017;80:1138-1152.
18. Alnaser NW. First smart 8.64kW BIPV in a building in Awali Town at
NCF net cash flow ($)
Kingdom of Bahrain. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2018;82:205-214.
NPV net present value ($) 19. Li Y, Liu C. Techno-economic analysis for constructing solar photovol-
taic projects on building envelopes. Build Environ. 2018;127:37-46.
ORCID 20. Ghazali A, Salleh EI, Haw LC, Mat S, Sopian K. Performance and finan-
cial evaluation of various photovoltaic vertical facades on high-rise
Farivar Fazelpour https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8709-6348 building in Malaysia. Energy Build. 2017;134:306-318.
21. Huang D, Yu T. Study on energy payback time of building integrated
photovoltaic system. Procedia Eng. 2017;205:1087-1092.
22. Youssef AMA, Zhai ZJ, Reffat RM. Genetic algorithm based optimiza-
RE FE R ENC E S tion for photovoltaics integrated building envelope. Energy Build.
2016;127:627-636.
1. Brambilla A, Salvalai G, Imperadori M, Sesana MM. Nearly zero energy 23. Aristizábal AJ, Páez CA. Experimental investigation of the perfor-
building renovation: from energy efficiency to environmental effi- mance of 6kW BIPV system applied in laboratory building. Energ
ciency, a pilot case study. Energy Build. 2018;166:271-283. Buildings. 2017;152:1-10.
2. Karimi MS, Fazelpour F, Rosen MA, Shams M. Comparative study of 24. Dehwah AHA, Asif M, Rahman MT. Prospects of PV application in
solar-powered underfloor heating system performance in distinctive unregulated building rooftops in developing countries: A perspective
climates. Renew Energy. 2019;130:524-535. from Saudi Arabia. Energy Build. 2018;171:76-87.
3. Abasnezhad S, Soltani N, Markarian E, Fakhim HA, Khezerloo H. 25. Ali I, Shafiullah GM, Urmee T. A preliminary feasibility of roof-mounted
Impact of building design parameters precision on heating and cooling solar PV systems in the Maldives. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2018;83:
load calculations. Environ Prog Sustain Energy. 2018. 18-32.
KARIMI ET AL. 13 of 13

26. Omar MA, Mahmoud MM. Grid connected PV- home systems 30. Fazelpour F, Soltani N, Markarian E, Khezerloo H. Impact of multiple
in Palestine: a review on technical performance, effects and parameters on energy performance of PV-DSF buildings. Proceedings.
economic feasibility. Renew Sustain Energy Rev. 2018;82:2490- 2018;2:1487.
2497.
27. Ashrae A. ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2013. Energy Standard for
Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. 2013.
28. Chae YT, Kim J, Park H, Shin B. Building energy performance How to cite this article: Karimi MS, Fazelpour F, Rosen MA,
evaluation of building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) window Shams M. Techno-economic feasibility of building attached
with semi-transparent solar cells. Appl Energy. 2014;129:217-227. photovoltaic systems for the various climatic conditions of
29. Griffith B, Ellis P. Photovoltaic and solar thermal modeling with the
Iran. Environ Prog Sustainable Energy. 2019;e13239. https://
EnergyPlus calculation engine. Center for Buildings and Thermal Sys-
tems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; 2004. http://gundoglbl doi.org/10.1002/ep.13239
gov/dirpubs/bg_36275 pdf