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Dynamic photovoltaic building envelopes for adaptive energy and comfort management

Author

Listed:
  • Bratislav Svetozarevic

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Moritz Begle

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Prageeth Jayathissa

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Stefan Caranovic

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Robert F. Shepherd

    (Cornell University)

  • Zoltan Nagy

    (The University of Texas at Austin)

  • Illias Hischier

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Johannes Hofer

    (ETH Zurich)

  • Arno Schlueter

    (ETH Zurich)

Abstract

Current efforts to improve building envelopes mostly focus on reducing energy demand by static measures such as insulation, selective glazing and shading. The resulting envelopes are limited in adapting to weather conditions or occupants’ needs and leave vast potentials for energy savings, onsite energy generation and improvement of occupant comfort untapped. In this work, we report on a dynamic building envelope that utilizes lightweight modules based on a hybrid hard/soft-material actuator to actively modulate solar radiation for local energy generation, passive heating, shading and daylight penetration. We describe two envelope prototypes and demonstrate autonomous solar tracking in real weather conditions. The dynamic photovoltaic envelope achieves an increase of up to 50% in electricity gains as compared to a static photovoltaic envelope. We assess energy savings potentials for three locations, six construction periods and two building use types. The envelope is most effective in temperate and arid climates, in which, for the cases analyzed, it can provide up to 115% of the net energy demand of an office room.

Suggested Citation

  • Bratislav Svetozarevic & Moritz Begle & Prageeth Jayathissa & Stefan Caranovic & Robert F. Shepherd & Zoltan Nagy & Illias Hischier & Johannes Hofer & Arno Schlueter, 2019. "Dynamic photovoltaic building envelopes for adaptive energy and comfort management," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 4(8), pages 671-682, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natene:v:4:y:2019:i:8:d:10.1038_s41560-019-0424-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41560-019-0424-0
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Yiqing Dai & Yu Bai, 2020. "Performance Improvement for Building Integrated Photovoltaics in Practice: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-22, December.
    2. Liang, Shen & Zheng, Hongfei & Wang, Xuanlin & Ma, Xinglong & Zhao, Zhiyong, 2022. "Design and performance validation on a solar louver with concentrating-photovoltaic-thermal modules," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 71-83.
    3. Weifan Long & Xiaofei Chen & Qingsong Ma & Xindong Wei & Qiao Xi, 2022. "An Evaluation of the PV Integrated Dynamic Overhangs Based on Parametric Performance Design Method: A Case Study of a Student Apartment in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Zhenmin Yuan & Jianliang Zhou & Yaning Qiao & Yadi Zhang & Dandan Liu & Hui Zhu, 2020. "BIM-VE-Based Optimization of Green Building Envelope from the Perspective of both Energy Saving and Life Cycle Cost," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-16, September.
    5. Huang, Xinyu & Li, Fangfei & Liu, Zhengguang & Gao, Xinyu & Yang, Xiaohu & Yan, Jinyue, 2023. "Design and optimization of a novel phase change photovoltaic thermal utilization structure for building envelope," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).
    6. Huang, Baofeng & Wang, Yeqing & Lu, Wensheng & Cheng, Meng, 2022. "Fabrication and energy efficiency of translucent concrete panel for building envelope," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).
    7. Seonggon Kim & Jong Ha Park & Jae Won Lee & Yongchan Kim & Yong Tae Kang, 2023. "Self-recovering passive cooling utilizing endothermic reaction of NH4NO3/H2O driven by water sorption for photovoltaic cell," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    8. Chi, Fang'ai & Xu, Ying & Wang, Xueru, 2022. "Transparent part design optimizations in buildings towards energy saving based on customized radiation sky dome model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    9. Li, Yanxue & Wang, Zixuan & Xu, Wenya & Gao, Weijun & Xu, Yang & Xiao, Fu, 2023. "Modeling and energy dynamic control for a ZEH via hybrid model-based deep reinforcement learning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    10. Skandalos, Nikolaos & Wang, Meng & Kapsalis, Vasileios & D'Agostino, Delia & Parker, Danny & Bhuvad, Sushant Suresh & Udayraj, & Peng, Jinqing & Karamanis, Dimitris, 2022. "Building PV integration according to regional climate conditions: BIPV regional adaptability extending Köppen-Geiger climate classification against urban and climate-related temperature increases," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    11. Sheel Bhadra & Niloy Sen & Akshay K K & Harmeet Singh & Paul G. O’Brien, 2023. "Design and Evaluation of a Water-Based, Semitransparent Photovoltaic Thermal Trombe Wall," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-15, February.
    12. Wang, Zixuan & Xiao, Fu & Ran, Yi & Li, Yanxue & Xu, Yang, 2024. "Scalable energy management approach of residential hybrid energy system using multi-agent deep reinforcement learning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 367(C).
    13. Vesna Kosorić & Siu-Kit Lau & Abel Tablada & Monika Bieri & André M. Nobre, 2021. "A Holistic Strategy for Successful Photovoltaic (PV) Implementation into Singapore’s Built Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-35, June.
    14. Arias-Rosales, Andrés & LeDuc, Philip R., 2022. "Shadow modeling in urban environments for solar harvesting devices with freely defined positions and orientations," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).

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