building integration - Elite Home & Solar

Solar Energy

Plus-energy houses become possible with solar facades

December 10, 2024 ryansheehanrts

The architectural firm of Rolf Disch is a pioneer in the integration of photovoltaics into buildings (BIPV). Now the latest project of the Freiburg architect has been completed: The PlusEnergy Climate Houses in Schallstadt, 100 kilometres west of Lake Constance. Only a few kilometres southwest of Freiburg im Breisgau, Rolf Disch has developed several apartment buildings in such a way that they generate more energy than they consume.

On the one hand, this is achieved because the buildings are fully geared up for minimum energy consumption. On the other hand, a great deal of photovoltaics has been integrated into the building envelope. These solar systems completely cover the buildings’ needs and actually generate a profit over the course of a year.

Surplus for mobility

A large part of this electricity harvest is not fed into the grid, but used for mobility. Everything has been done and implemented that is possible today in sustainable building and living – and that must be implemented everywhere if we are serious about combating climate change.

90 per cent of the energy stays in the house

The orientation of the building to the southwest means that solar energy can be used abundantly to warm the living spaces on cold days. On hot days, the balconies and the external sun shading provide shade so that the rooms remain cool. The compact and thermally insulated outer shell and thermally insulated glazed windows reduce the heating requirement to a minimum. Ventilation supplies the living spaces with fresh outside air. In combination with efficient heat recovery, up to 90 per cent of the energy remains in the house.

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Rolf Disch has also done a lot on the active side. The roofs and the balustrades of the balconies are equipped with photovoltaic modules. Even the roof of the carport in front of the building is covered with solar modules. In this way, the building has a solar output of 450 kilowatts. These provide about 430,000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year – more than is needed in the climate houses.

To make better use of this electricity on site, an electricity storage unit has been integrated that can shift the solar energy into the evening hours. Later, the batteries of the electric vehicles will also return stored electricity to the house.

Solar power for heating

But the solar power also covers a large part of the heating supply. Solar-powered heat pumps use the energy produced by the building. The energy source is waste heat from a sewage system, which is supplied via a cold local heating network. The heat pumps raise the temperature to the level of the underfloor heating. In summer, this can also be used for cooling. When showering, the warm water going out heats the cold water coming in. (mfo)

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Solar Energy

Topic of the Week: Solar facade

October 2, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Industrial facades are the perfect surface for advancing building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). This is because the surfaces are large, largely without disturbing surfaces such as windows, and companies can produce more of their own solar power if the roof is already in use or unsuitable. Rhomberg Energie shows that such facades can still look aesthetic.

1,400 square metres of modules

The company has built a ventilated solar facade on the production building of surface finisher Collini in Hohenems, Austria. Using its own system and solar modules, Rhomberg has covered an entire side of the building facing the car park access road at the surface finisher’s new production hall. A total of 1,400 square metres of modules provide an output of around 300 kilowatts. This makes the plant the largest of its kind in the whole of Vorarlberg, actually in western Austria, as Rhomberg reports.

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Fire-tested system used

Collini will use almost all of the solar power directly on site for its own production. After all, the company needs a lot of energy for galvanisation, anodisation and other surface coating technologies. Rhomberg has also equipped the plant with various technologies. For example, an early fire detection system is integrated into the substructure of the fire protection-tested system, which is directly connected to the fire alarm in the building. Together with the technical monitoring of the plant with different sensor technologies, the company is setting new standards in fire protection.

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Each module is individually monitored

In addition, each module is continuously monitored individually with regard to its performance and temperature. ‘If one should fail, all the others will continue to run,’ explains Marco J. Rusch, head of the solar facades business unit at Rhomberg Energie. ‘And at the same time, a notification is triggered by exactly the failed module. We could also localise a fire source with pinpoint accuracy in the facade using our technology.’

Semitransparent modules used

Rhomberg has integrated the system architecturally flush into the facade. The bifacial modules are semi-transparent. They allow light to pass through to brighten the driveway to the multi-storey car park. The modules on the back reflect the light reflected from the driveway to produce electricity. (su/mfo)

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Solar Energy

BIPV – Building-integrated photovoltaics for financing

September 30, 2024 ryansheehanrts

Buy cheap, buy twice. This wisdom also applies in a modified form to the construction industry. It too will not be able to continue as before in the future. Calls for a softening of sustainability standards lead to a cost trap and to buildings being technological and economic refurbishment cases as soon as they are commissioned.

Property developers only think until the users move in. However, the actual costs are incurred during the operation of the building. “Buildings are not finished when they are built,” says Dan Schürch. The Zurich architect has constructed two new buildings in the Lacheren area of Schlieren, Switzerland, which are designed to last and are state-of-the-art in terms of energy efficiency.

The shape of the buildings alone shows that this is not an egotistical residential development. Dan Schürch has fitted them perfectly into the existing building environment. But this is not entirely altruistic either. After all, the solar facades in which the two buildings are wrapped receive more sunlight.

Dan Schürch has opted for a particularly aesthetic variant. The solar modules are hidden behind gold-coloured glass so that the actual technology is invisible. This has not resulted in a cheap house. But it does create a high degree of self-sufficiency by utilising a large proportion of the solar power produced on site. Profits are stored in the form of hot water, increasing self-sufficiency and reducing operating costs.

This is just one project that shows how the costs of residential and commercial premises can also be reduced with modern concepts and solar energy. This is because the consistent solarisation of buildings protects against further increases in energy costs. However, this is only possible with a new look at the building that includes its operation and actually dismantling.

Digital planning

Together with Drees & Sommer, Schüco has shown how this works. The construction and property consultant’s new company headquarters in Stuttgart is consistently geared towards circular economy and efficient operation.

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Digital planning also enabled a high degree of prefabrication of the modular facade and time- and cost-saving module production in series. This meant that the entire facade, including the solar elements, could be assembled in just two and a half weeks despite its technical complexity. The building took two years to build and cost 22 million euros, which was on time and on budget.

Niche topic picks up speed

The building will be very efficient in operation. The facade combines high-quality thermal insulation with soundproofing. The south and west sides of the building are realised with solar facades. Here, the project partners have used both transparent triple insulating glass fitted with monocrystalline solar cells and opaque solar modules in front of the main façade. The modules are also fitted with monocrystalline solar cells and have a special cover glass. The unusual surface structure reduces reflection and increases the solar yield by up to three per cent in some cases.

The 700 square metres of module surface in the building envelope produce around 70 megawatt hours of electricity every year. That is around 40 per cent of the total solar yield. The rest is supplied by modules that are also mounted on the roof. This is because the entire building is a plus-energy house that generates more energy than it consumes during operation.

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Such solutions are becoming more important, especially in the commercial sector. This is the only way for companies to achieve the climate targets they have set themselves. The previously niche topic of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is currently gaining enormous momentum due to a rethink on the part of building owners and new political guidelines, as Marco Schech, senior project engineer for BIPV at Schüco, reports. BIPV is also becoming increasingly popular with planners because it enables interesting design effects and does not restrict architects in their creativity.

Special modules from Sunovation used

Even the public sector is leading the way when it comes to aesthetic and energy-efficient buildings, as demonstrated by a new office building for the state of Hesse in Wiesbaden. The building is an energy-plus building. This was achieved with the curtain-type solar facade, which consists of full-surface coloured solar modules from Sunovation. With a solar active area of 821 square metres, they not only provide sufficient energy for the operation of the building, but also ensure an aesthetic overall appearance.

In order to do justice to the visual appearance of the building design, the modules take up the grid pattern of the window elements. Sunovation has manufactured 347 panels in eight different sizes for this purpose. The company can easily realise this thanks to the special SCET production process. The modules are not laminated, but produced using a special silicone moulding process. Another important argument in favour of using E-form modules from Sunovation was the high fire protection requirements, which the building was only able to meet because there is no film between the module glass. (su/mfo)

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