Energy harvest and daylighting performance of dynamic photovoltaic shading system-a comparison study in various climate zones of China

Dynamic photovoltaic shading systems (PVSDs) that can automatically adjust PV angles according to solar altitude and azimuth to enhance solar energy utilization, have become an important research focus in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The geographical and climatic characteristics of different cities have a significant impact on the optical performance and power generation efficiency of PVSDs, yet prior studies generally lack systematic cross-climate evaluations and regional correlation analyses. To address this gap, this study assessed the daylighting performance of dynamic PVSDs in six representative Chinese cities under diverse climatic conditions and conducted a regional correlation analysis. The results showed that, regardless of dynamic or static control strategies, south-facing PVSDs consistently achieved the highest annual electricity generation, followed by west-facing PVSDs. Compared with horizontal static systems, dynamic systems significantly increased annual power generation by 16.1%–29.9%. Using the south-facing configuration as an example, Beijing's dynamic PVSDs yielded the highest annual power generation at 240 kWh, while Chengdu recorded the lowest at 110.54 kWh. In addition, during summer, dynamic PVSDs effectively met indoor lighting demands and improved illuminance uniformity; for instance, in Harbin, illuminance uniformity increased by 1.1%. Overall, dynamic PVSDs balanced power generation and daylighting objectives across different urban contexts, demonstrating practical value and broad applicability for building energy conservation and indoor daylighting environment optimization.

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Publication Details

Journal
Frontiers of Architectural Research
Published
2025-11-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2025.09.007
Primary Topic
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
Type
article
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article

Energy harvest and daylighting performance of dynamic photovoltaic shading system-a comparison study in various climate zones of China

Zhe Kong, Changying Xiang, Wanting Wang, Kaiyan Xu et al.
Frontiers of Architectural Research
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
article

Energy harvest and daylighting performance of dynamic photovoltaic shading system-a comparison study in various climate zones of China

Zhe Kong, Changying Xiang, Wanting Wang, Kaiyan Xu, Mingyang Wang
article en

Abstract

Dynamic photovoltaic shading systems (PVSDs) that can automatically adjust PV angles according to solar altitude and azimuth to enhance solar energy utilization, have become an important research focus in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). The geographical and climatic characteristics of different cities have a significant impact on the optical performance and power generation efficiency of PVSDs, yet prior studies generally lack systematic cross-climate evaluations and regional correlation analyses. To address this gap, this study assessed the daylighting performance of dynamic PVSDs in six representative Chinese cities under diverse climatic conditions and conducted a regional correlation analysis. The results showed that, regardless of dynamic or static control strategies, south-facing PVSDs consistently achieved the highest annual electricity generation, followed by west-facing PVSDs. Compared with horizontal static systems, dynamic systems significantly increased annual power generation by 16.1%–29.9%. Using the south-facing configuration as an example, Beijing's dynamic PVSDs yielded the highest annual power generation at 240 kWh, while Chengdu recorded the lowest at 110.54 kWh. In addition, during summer, dynamic PVSDs effectively met indoor lighting demands and improved illuminance uniformity; for instance, in Harbin, illuminance uniformity increased by 1.1%. Overall, dynamic PVSDs balanced power generation and daylighting objectives across different urban contexts, demonstrating practical value and broad applicability for building energy conservation and indoor daylighting environment optimization.

Frontiers of Architectural Research
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK), Southeast University (BD), Institut de Recherche et d’Innovation (FR), Southeast University (CN), University of Hong Kong (HK), South China University of Technology (CN)
Openalex Percentile: Top 62%
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
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