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Fraunhofer ISE and Fraunhofer UMSICHT have developed a prefabricated facade element with integrated photovoltaics that combines power generation, weather protection and thermal insulation. The elimination of an additional substructure for the solar modules saves large amounts of material.
When it comes to facades, aesthetics, function and sustainability must harmonise perfectly. At the same time, the appearance has to be right. Thanks to the ColorQuant technology from Ceramic Colors Wolbring, coloured solar modules can now be produced for facades that offer a high degree of design freedom and high performance. GW-News went to find out first-hand what this technology and the almost unlimited colour palette are all about.
The VetroMount glass balustrade system offers rapid installation, reliable safety and sleek aesthetics, making it very suitable for contemporary architectural projects. And the profiles now also allow the integration of photovoltaic glass. See here for all the options.
New window technology enables solar power to be generated directly from insulating glass. A prototype has now been installed and tested by Walter Fenster in Kassel in Germany.
On 28 and 29 October 2024, modern facade architecture will be on the agenda at the Kursaal in Bern. The speakers at Advanced Building Skins will also be taking a closer look at solar facades.
In line with our focus topic of this week – BIPV – here are some impressions from the past three days at The smarter E Europe 2024 in Munich, Germany. Solar facades and the integration of PV into the building envelope are a growing market segment. And this year‘s trade fair reflected that. Here are some first impressions:
ML System supplies photovoltaic glass to the prestigious 20-storey Artery business centre, located in Vilnius, designed by the world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) offers great opportunities for the glass industry - here is a German perspective from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (ISE), beginning with a general introduction:
MO Energy Systems from Austria has developed a modular standard solution for solar facades. The scalable solution is suitable for existing and new buildings. It can be connected to concrete as well as brick and timber facades.
This new office building in Stuttgart, Germany, known as OWP 12 referring to its address, was created using the newest planning and building methods in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle principle and it shows what energy-plus architecture can do today thanks to the slimline, high performance facade with BIPV.
The facade of the new building of the Gronau municipal utility in Münsterland will generate solar electricity in the future. The transparent solar modules custom-made by ASCA (Armor Group, manufacturer of organic photovoltaics - OPV) are very large and were integrated into facade glass by BGT Bischoff Glastechnik.
At the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on 24 November, the customisable system for PV facades from Envelon received the Product Design of the Year award at the prestigious 2022 Architecture MasterPrize. Envelon is a subsidiary of the Grenzebach Group.
Saint-Gobain extends its range of sustainable solutions for facades in Europe by investing in building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).
In this edition of our webinar series GW-News Talks, Marcel Bilow of the Technical University Delft and Hannes Spiß of Isolar have been discussing some of the latest developments in the facade industry. See the video recording of the session here:
A futuristic building has been erected in Basel whose facade is surrounded by organic solar foils. They provide the energy for art animations, among other things, with which the facade is illuminated after sunset.
Pilkington offer a new BIPV glass that allows the generation of solar electricity from glass facades. Find out here how that works and why it can be beneficial:
Despite all the technical and aesthetic advances already described, barriers exist that prevent BIPV from becoming a mass product. These and the normative framework conditions are explained below:
A BIPV system consists of modules, inverters, cables, possibly power optimisers and the constructive integration of the modules into the building envelope. Considerable progress has been made in all areas over the past few years.
PU foam mistakes to avoid, R+T 2022 postponed again, water-based wood primer and a series with Fraunhofer ISE on building-integrated PV. These are our top stories of the week:
Manufacturer Armor Solar from Kitzingen in Bavaria has developed a new technology with which organic solar cells (OPV) can be integrated quickly, easily and flexibly into any glass format and facade.
Solar electricity on buildings is mainly generated with roof-mounted photovoltaics. However, a recent trend also sees PV being integrated into the building envelope.
Zonnebloem is a concept for a solar facade that not only produces clean electricity to help combat climate change but is also designed to cope with some of its expected impacts. See here how it works:
The “Solar Tracker” prototype is a concept for a solution to integrate photovoltaics into the building envelope. It was developed in the TU Delft’s Bucky Lab, part of the facade Master’s Degree course. See more here:
Focusing on building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), the 2020 Bucky Lab of the TU Delft in the Netherlands gave the students the opportunity to come up with new prototypes for solar facades:
This student prototype developed by facade Master’s Degree students at the TU Delft’s Bucky Lab offers to solve the problem of efficiency loss in solar facades due to heat. The trick is integrating plants:
