Study of a building integrated bifacial photovoltaic facade

Abstract

An increase of knowledge of the mid- term performance of building integrated bifacial photovoltaic modules in real conditions is required in order to validate their relevance. Thus, in this work, the experimental study during more than one year of an innovative building integrated bifacial photovoltaic ventilated façade developed in the framework of the CONIPHER Life project and mounted on a test cell at Le Bourget du Lac is presented focusing mainly on the photovoltaic modules thermal behaviour and electrical performance. Moreover, a specific attention is made on the photovoltaic façade seasonal impact on the building energy consumption compared to a similar test cell comprising a non-insulated concrete wall. An important thermal gradient is observed along the façade in warm season, as expected, mainly due to site albedo, with mean photovoltaic modules temperature up to 68.3 °C. The innovative facade produced an annual cumulated electrical energy of 63.8 kWh/m2 with a performance ratio of 0.7 and a mean annual efficiency of 6.3%. A huge reduction of the building total energy consumption up to 92% in winter compared to reference is observed. As further studies, the facade will be installed on an office building in order to demonstrate its performance in real conditions.