Testing a design methodology for building integration of photovoltaics (PV) using a PV demonstration site in Singapore

Abstract

This article presents a design methodology of building integration of photovoltaics (PVs) in the early design phase (EDP), assuming a photovoltaic demonstration site (PV Demo-site) at the School of Design and Environment (SDE), National University of Singapore (NUS). The project aims to demonstrate high-quality building integration of PVs, as well as to have a strong demonstrative, educational and motivational role by way of showing the diversity, multi-functionality and purposefulness of today's PV technologies. The presented design process was divided into three phases to enable both simplification and optimization of the overall design process. Eight design alternatives were created and the design strategy and assessment criteria were established with considerations of project objectives, architectural requirements, investor's requirements and related technical constraints. The multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method was adopted in the evaluation of the proposed design alternatives, and the impact of different design strategies was discussed.

Design Optimization of Productive Façades: Integrating Photovoltaic and Farming Systems at the Tropical Technologies Laboratory

“…The VIKOR method determines a compromise solution from a set of alternatives often based on non-commensurable units (i.e., for optimisation specifically: %, W/m 2 , kg) and conflicting requirements (i.e., PF criteria functions: food production potential, BIPV electricity generation potential, indoor daylight, energy flow on façade and view angle), while also allowing easy, highly flexible modelling of the decision maker's (DM) preference. The method has been successfully applied to resolve practical considerations in complex multidisciplinary fields related to sustainability and renewable energy planning [69,70], as well as in the building PV integration field [20,71]. It enables holistic evaluation of different design solutions and the optimization of the design variants and aids the sensitivity analysis which tests the robustness of the "optimality" of the selected design variant.…”

A Holistic Strategy for Successful Photovoltaic (PV) Implementation into Singapore’s Built Environment

“…Although various handbooks (e.g., Green Handbook-Photovoltaic (PV) systems in buildings [39], Handbook for Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Systems [40], etc.) and research articles on design methodology [50,54,56,65] have been published, 28% of survey respondents in the survey performed by Lau et al [17] deem that the lack of handbooks and practical guidelines on BIPV and PV façade integrations in Singapore is an important obstacle to BIPV implementation. In addition, 74% of survey respondents think that a handbook with guidelines on all steps in the PV building integration design process is important or very important for BIPV development.…”

“…), electricity consumption, indoor visual and thermal comfort (e.g., in case of application of PV as solar shading), formal-aesthetic aspect of building envelope, mounting options and ease of installation on building envelope construction, maintenance issues and cleaning, etc. [50,65].…”

“…The next set of criteria that needs to be at least considered if not fully followed is that related to the quality of solar architectural integration [6,65], comprising functional and constructive, as well as formal-aesthetic criteria taking into account the project's geometry (position and dimension of PV field), materiality (visible materials, surface texture, colors), and modular pattern (size, shape of PV modules, jointing types) [6]. This helps to achieve a successful, well-thought-out PV integration and good client satisfaction, thereby contributing to greater acceptance of PV technology [1].…”

“…Given the complexity of decision-making within a PV design and the fact that the optimal solution is not necessarily the one with the highest possible generation of electricity, but rather the one that meets different, often conflicting requirements, from techno-economic ones, including those related to approval from the Singaporean authorities for the solar PV installation [113], e.g., SCDF requirements, to those related to aesthetics-the design optimization and utilization of MCDA methods and tools play the key role in design of PV systems [50,54,65]. Accordingly, the design process should look for long-term optimal user-oriented solutions, which can compensate, with other functional-aesthetic advantages, for their lower techno-economic performance compared to other better techno-economic performing solutions.…”