Efficiency of BIPV system – Field study in Norwegian climate

Abstract

Use of solar cells (PV) and solar collectors are key remedies in buildings where a large part of the energy supply should be based on renewable energy. The aim of this work has been to evaluate calculated and measured solar production of two identical BIPV roofs located at the ZEB Living Laboratory situated at NTNU-campus in Trondheim. Temperature, irradiance and wind speed and direction at the rooftop of the building have been monitored since the construction of the house. There was found a large difference in energy production of the northern roof section and the southern. One possible explanation is shading of the northern roof because of low solar azimuth during the measuring period. In order to avoid such disadvantages, design of the PV-roofs should be considered early in the design phase of the building project. A small difference was found between the hourly measured and the calculated values of the PV performance based on the monitored local climate data. Use of generic climate data expect to cause a larger difference between measured and simulated energy performance due to lack of consideration to local conditions.