IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v89y2016icp616-626.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of theoretical and real energy yield of direct DC-power usage of a Photovoltaic Façade system

Author

Listed:
  • Abawi, Y.
  • Rennhofer, M.
  • Berger, K.
  • Wascher, H.
  • Aichinger, M.

Abstract

Multifunctional façade components have nowadays become a significant research topic as a step towards developing energy-efficient buildings. This paper presents the performance evaluation of an experimental setup of a real fully decentralized façade-integrated photovoltaic (PV) system installed in a prototype façade, for direct DC power use. The goal of this evaluation was to test the system's ability to fulfill a pre-designed daily electrical load of 925Wh corresponding to a three-people office space under 100% decentralization. This was achieved by studying the operation under different weather conditions and the impact of the system design and components on its overall output. The evaluation of both the actual and theoretical system outputs indicates poor actual system performance in terms of low energy yield and unacceptable load fulfillment factor, which did not exceed 0.95. At the same time it revealed underutilized system potential which could be exploited theoretically with a proper system configuration. The results in this paper conclude that decentralized façade integrated PV systems can completely satisfy their designated applications if properly-designed and implemented, and provides a methodology which could be used in designing similar systems. Satisfactory fulfillment is shown to be achieved by having 30% additional PV and 9 times bigger storage capacities in this system.

Suggested Citation

  • Abawi, Y. & Rennhofer, M. & Berger, K. & Wascher, H. & Aichinger, M., 2016. "Comparison of theoretical and real energy yield of direct DC-power usage of a Photovoltaic Façade system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 616-626.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:89:y:2016:i:c:p:616-626
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.12.033
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148115305371
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2015.12.033?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas, Brinda A. & Azevedo, Inês L. & Morgan, Granger, 2012. "Edison Revisited: Should we use DC circuits for lighting in commercial buildings?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 399-411.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ruparathna, Rajeev & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2016. "Improving the energy efficiency of the existing building stock: A critical review of commercial and institutional buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1032-1045.
    2. Spiliotis, Konstantinos & Gonçalves, Juliana E. & Saelens, Dirk & Baert, Kris & Driesen, Johan, 2020. "Electrical system architectures for building-integrated photovoltaics: A comparative analysis using a modelling framework in Modelica," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    3. Theo, Wai Lip & Lim, Jeng Shiun & Wan Alwi, Sharifah Rafidah & Mohammad Rozali, Nor Erniza & Ho, Wai Shin & Abdul-Manan, Zainuddin, 2016. "An MILP model for cost-optimal planning of an on-grid hybrid power system for an eco-industrial park," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P2), pages 1423-1441.
    4. Gerber, Daniel L. & Liou, Richard & Brown, Richard, 2019. "Energy-saving opportunities of direct-DC loads in buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C), pages 274-287.
    5. Stephen Whaite & Brandon Grainger & Alexis Kwasinski, 2015. "Power Quality in DC Power Distribution Systems and Microgrids," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-22, May.
    6. Avpreet Othee & James Cale & Arthur Santos & Stephen Frank & Daniel Zimmerle & Omkar Ghatpande & Gerald Duggan & Daniel Gerber, 2023. "A Modeling Toolkit for Comparing AC and DC Electrical Distribution Efficiency in Buildings," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-46, March.
    7. Patrik Ollas & Torbjörn Thiringer & Mattias Persson & Caroline Markusson, 2023. "Energy Loss Savings Using Direct Current Distribution in a Residential Building with Solar Photovoltaic and Battery Storage," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-21, January.
    8. Gerber, Daniel L. & Vossos, Vagelis & Feng, Wei & Marnay, Chris & Nordman, Bruce & Brown, Richard, 2018. "A simulation-based efficiency comparison of AC and DC power distribution networks in commercial buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 1167-1187.
    9. Nils H. Van der Blij & Laura M. Ramirez-Elizondo & Matthijs T. J. Spaan & Pavol Bauer, 2017. "Stability of DC Distribution Systems: An Algebraic Derivation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-17, September.
    10. Glasgo, Brock & Azevedo, Inês Lima & Hendrickson, Chris, 2016. "How much electricity can we save by using direct current circuits in homes? Understanding the potential for electricity savings and assessing feasibility of a transition towards DC powered buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 66-75.
    11. Vossos, Vagelis & Gerber, Daniel & Bennani, Youness & Brown, Richard & Marnay, Chris, 2018. "Techno-economic analysis of DC power distribution in commercial buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 663-678.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:89:y:2016:i:c:p:616-626. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.