Architectural Integration of Photovoltaic and Solar Thermal Collector Systems into Buildings for new Urban Planning

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Photovoltaic Unit (PVUNRIAG), Department of Solar & Space Research, National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The existing buildings are responsible for use of large amount of energy for lighting, heating, cooling and use of various energy run equipments mostly powered by electricity grid from fossil energy. Today’s intention should be to replace this fossil fuel by solar energy which is free and available in abundance.
At the moment, solar technologies in the form of photovoltaics PVs and solar thermal collectors STC are available in competitive prices. However, their use has not been to the expectation specially in building sector. The main reason for these technologies not being popular in building integration is the lack of good architectural quality rendered not meeting desired design considerations. Innovative approaches have to be explored in terms of design and implementation in order to match the modern technological components to the scale, proportion, material, colour scheme and balance of buildings. So, the objective of this study is to pave possible ways of integrating these technologies into buildings, both on existing and new constructions to add emphasis on the overall architectural expression in addition to producing energy. PVs and solar thermal collectors STC can deliberately be used as architectural design elements in a distinctive way. The development towards passive house, zero energy and zero emission buildings will cause a more frequent use of building integrated solar energy systems as a source of renewable energy. Many solar systems do exist on the market, and with better and better energy performance. It looks like PV integration have brought about some improvements in the architectural quality of building integration, but the solar thermal collectors STC lacks on this part to some extent. While the technical development and energy performance improvements are always in progress, the actual use of these systems in buildings is not increasing as it could and should do. Integrating these PV and solar thermal collectors STC systems into buildings is not only for clean energy but also to use them as multifunctional elements where they replace the conventional building elements. With this, the economical viability of integration is met and most importantly, they become architectural components. So the possible ways of architectural integration of PV and STC systems have been explored and analysed in this study with special focus made on the aesthetic part of integration. So the urban planners should tack into consideration the concept called nearly Zero Energy Buildings (ZEB). By the end of 2020, all EU member states need to ensure that all newly constructed buildings consume ‘nearly zero’ energy and that their energy needs are produced locally as much as possible and with renewable sources. Planning for such ZEBs in cities is therefore a difficult task since urban planners often do not have the technical knowledge to quantify the contribution of solar energy in their urban plans. This study also shows an exploration of geometrical forms of urban blocks and the potential of solar energy to the local production of energy. The following photos are practical examples of PVs and STC application systems for this study.