Evaluation of PV technology implementation in the building sector

This paper presents a simulation case that shows the impact on energy consumption of a building applying photovoltaic shading systems. In order to make photovoltaic application more economical, the effect of a photovoltaic facade as a passive cooling system can result in a considerable energy cost reduction, with positive influence on the payback time of the photovoltaic installation. Photovoltaic shading systems can be applied to both refurbishment of old buildings and to new-build, offering attractive and environmentally integrated architectural solutions. The economic situation has allowed people to improve the comfort level in their buildings. Increased numbers of air conditioning systems are being sold, leading to increased energy consumption, in particular during a few summer months. Power plants have difficulty with delivering the electricity during high peak power demand in summer, which has resulted, for example, in more than one blackout in Italy. An energy cost evaluation applying different electricity tariffs for the building sector shows a consistent difference in the annual bill when photovoltaic devices are deployed. In particular, for the summer period a significant reduction in the air-conditioning energy consumption can be achieved (Bloem and Colli, 2003) and in some cases, dependent on the architecture of the building, a reduction of the lighting load is possible too. Photovoltaic technology could be an interesting option for building and urban designers to cope with the problem of reducing peak demand. Renewable energy technology in general has political importance, being a clean form of energy (EC, 2001). The application of photovoltaic technology allows energy-conscious construction of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings provided that it is supported by politics through national regulations. Photovoltaic technology can produce the energy where and how it is needed and its orientation can be optimised in such a way that it can reduce summer peak demand of electricity.