PV Design Façade Element: Combining a PV Module With Aluminum Façade Elements

ABSTRACT The integration of PV modules into the building envelope requires new module concepts in order to increase their acceptance and their integrability into standard processes of the building industry. In this work, we develop prototypes of a PV‐activated design façade element with aluminum as base material. We investigate various designs, ranging from flat aluminum sheets to folded sheets and façade elements with a design structure. The PV module is always laminated directly onto the aluminum sheets and façade elements. The large difference in thermal expansion coefficients of glass and aluminum is a challenge for the production of such PV‐activated façade elements. It leads to bending of the modules after lamination. However, PV‐modules built on the design structures do not bend. We therefore focus on that type of façade elements for developing the prototype. The electrical insulation between the current‐carrying solar cell strings and the aluminum façade element is another challenge. The use of anodized aluminum and using an additional polyvinyl fluoride layer resolves this issue. The measurement of the insulation resistance both in dry and wet conditions results in insulation resistances similar to that of standard glass‐backsheet PV modules, when measured according to IEC 61215. We show different design variants of our PV‐activated design façade element, which demonstrates the variability in appearance and will thus hopefully support a wider spread of building‐integrated photovoltaics (BIPV).