Grid-type LED media façade with reflective walls for building-integrated photovoltaics with virtually no shading loss

Although anthropogenic climate change has demanded the development and use of building-integrated photovoltaics in zero energy building design, their poor aesthetic value has hindered their public acceptance. Accordingly, a grid-type LED display with reflective walls is herein proposed to bestow not only an aesthetic value to plain photovoltaic modules, but also an informative function as a media façade. Its lightweight, modular design enables it to be detachable and repairable. Upright flexible printed circuit boards embedded in the grid walls allow the use of wide copper electrodes and dual in-line package LEDs while casting virtually no shadows, leading to low resistive loss, excellent heat dissipation, and high luminance. The grid design exhibits a shading loss of only −3.67 %, which contributes to its superiority over conventional plane-type LED displays with a shading loss of −22.59 %. Reflective walls redirecting sunlight at solar incidence angles towards the photovoltaic modules lead to an average relative maximum power of 87.50 %, which is far higher than the 76.47 % achieved with opaque walls. The effective energy production simulations suggest that the grid-type LED displays can be run in a self-standing mode for up to 21.74 h per day. The presented grid-type LED display will contribute to the fast and wide adoption of building-integrated photovoltaics with increased public acceptance.