Seven impressive buildings with BIPV systems in Europe

BIPV systems are a means of solar energy  that perfectly combines efficiency with incredible architectural solutions. In this article you will get acquainted with ecological buildings in Europe, in Denmark, Spain, Norway, Belgium, Sweden. The images of each of the buildings are briefly described. In it you will find information about the history of BIPV system implementation in the building and the relationship between its efficiency and design.

Copenhagen International School, Denmark

The Copenhagen International School is one of the most shining examples of buildings with the BIPV system. The choice of the facade with an innovative solution was made at an early stage of design, and in the finished version appeared in 2016.

The facade covers an area of ​​6000 sq.m, made of special photovoltaic glass panels Kromatix. The design of the facade makes a great impression. Uniform green panels play with many different shades due to the change of light during the day. Thus the facade becomes multicolored.

In addition to an excellent aesthetic solution, energy production from BIPV systems covers 50% of the total annual electricity consumption at the school. The total power of the BIPV system is 700 kW, which is 500,000 kWh per year. It is also worth noting the excellent tightness of the panels.

Iturralde Winery, Spain

One of the world’s best restaurants Azurmendi in 2014 carried out the reconstruction of wineries by introducing the BIPV system. Thanks to which he received the award “The most stable restaurant in the world” according to the magazine “50 best restaurants in the world”.

The initiative to include photovoltaic elements in the building was taken by the owner of the winery. Its purpose was to ensure the production of electricity in the building in combination with aesthetics. An important aspect was the passage of daylight into the winery.

The final decision on the BIPV system was made at a late design stage. Onyx Solar has coped with this task by integrating amorphous silicon modules into the roof of the BIPV building. The total area of ​​the modules was 200 sq.m. Thanks to the BIPV system, the winery provides 16,400 kWh per year. Total installed power – 21 kW.

San Antón market, Spain

The building is a traditional market in the center of Madrid. The idea of ​​BIPV was initiated by architects in 2010, who were responsible for the reconstruction. The motivation was the combination of electricity production with natural light.

The solution to this bold idea was the use of the BIPV system, which includes specially made of amorphous silicon photovoltaic glass modules with a transparency of 20%. As can be seen in the image, photovoltaic glass modules have been installed as the main building material of the roof, thanks to which sunlight perfectly illuminates the building during the day.

The roof area occupied 168 sq.m. Annual electricity production – 7700 kWh, total capacity 6.5 kW. Photovoltaic glass modules were manufactured by Onyx Solar.

The Solar Emerald, Norway

“The Sun Emerald” is a seven-story office building that contains about 450 people. The modern house is located in eastern Norway, built in 2016.

The main idea of ​​the office was to combine the ecology of the house and the aesthetic appearance as an attractive space for tenants. The solution was to use BIPV systems, which were placed on the roof and facades of the house. It is worth noting the interesting design idea of ​​BIPV glass on the facade, which was printed in a green pattern.

Compared to the standard blue module, the green glass has a slightly lower generation, the loss is 17%. Also in this case, the generation is negatively affected by the presence of shading from surrounding buildings and trees. However, these things are inevitable if you try to implement BIPV systems in urban construction. Since the main idea is to combine energy efficiency with aesthetics, we believe that BIPV systems cope well with this.

The total area of ​​BIPV systems “Solar Emerald” is 1242 sq.m. Power – 115 kW, which allows you to generate 105 kWh annually.

The Treurenberg building, Belgium 

The modern office building is located in the center of Brussels. Construction took place from scratch, because the original building was completely destroyed. The new building, measuring 9800 sq.m, offers office space that can accommodate about 750 people.

The most modern methods were used in the construction so that the building would produce clean electricity as much as possible. That is why it was decided to cover the facade (3 upper floors) and the roof of the building with single-crystal solar modules. On the roof, the modules were placed with a slope of 5° to maximize electricity production.

Thus, the total area of ​​the BIPV system was 667 sq.m. The installed capacity is 122 kW, which generates 102 MWh per year. An interesting fact is that the building is rented by an EU agency.

Frodeparken, Sweden

The main idea in the construction of a new apartment building was the use of high-tech building materials, which were BIPV systems. This building has become an example of an ecological city.

The use of the BIPV system on the facade was proposed at an early stage of site design. Initially, the architect’s proposal was a blue polycrystalline silicon facade with a complex design. This idea required the order of modules of the special size. However, later the idea was changed and instead of the usual modules under the order it was decided to use thin films of the standard size. To do this, the architect had to adjust the standard sizes of thin-film modules according to the size of the facade. It is estimated that the cost of thin-film modules was much cheaper than ordering conventional modules of non-standard size.

Thus, the facade of 900 sq.m generates 70,000 kWh per year, the total capacity is 100 kW.

Single-family house, The Netherlands

The villa, owned by a scientist and businessman, is located in the south of the Netherlands. The main motivation for the use of modern building materials – savings on electricity bills.

The solution was to install thin-film solar modules on the roof of the house. The total roof area is 90 sq.m, the installed capacity of the modules is 12 kW, which allows generating 10,600 kWh per year. If these numbers are integrated into the appliances used, it turns out that thanks to the sun, the heat pump for the pool, the electric car and some household appliances work for free.

Summing up this article, we hope you are inspired by new ideas and bold solutions of BIPV buildings. In turn, I would like to add that AVENSTON GROUP is the first company in the Ukrainian market to implement such technologies. We invite you to cooperate on new bold BIPV projects in the Ukrainian market!