Implications of urban settings for the design of photovoltaic and conventional façades

This study investigates the impacts of urban settings on the energy and environmental performances of office space with a conventional and two photovoltaic (PV) integrated facade alternatives. The urban factors under consideration are orientation of buildings and streets and degree of obstruction. PV electrical and thermal models are integrated into an existing energy simulation tool, the LT model, to calculate hourly PV electricity production and thermal performance of a ventilated PV façade in the urban environment. The predictions of PV output are compared with the monitoring data and show a good agreement. After the energy and CO2 emission consequences of the building and urban factors are identified, the appropriateness of the urban PV façade in relation to obstruction in three locations (Oslo, Cambridge and Milan), each representing northern, central and southern Europe, is presented. Finally, efficient façade types with optimal glazing ratios in urban context for three locations are discussed.