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Photovoltaics and Architecture

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Photovoltaics and Architecture

Edited by
Randall Thomas
Max Fordham & Partners

London and New York

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 First published 2001 by Spon Press
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Spon Press
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.

Spon Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

© 2001 Selection and editorial matter: The partners of Max Fordham &
Partners; individual chapters, the contributors

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or

utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

A catalog record for the book has been requested

ISBN 0-203-16582-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-26042-2 (Adobe eReader Format)

ISBN 0-415-23182-5 (Print Edition)

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Contents

List of contributors vii

Foreword by Amory Lovins ix

Preface by Randall Thomas x

Acknowledgements xi

Part One 1

1. Introduction 3

2. What are photovoltaics? 6

2.1 Introduction 6
2.2 PVs 6
2.3 How much energy do PV systems produce? 10

3. PVs on buildings 17
3.1 Introduction 17
3.2 The brief 17
3.3 Site considerations 18
3.4 Building type 18
3.5 Design and construction 21
3.6 Forms and systems 23
3.7 What difference do PVs make? 29

4. Costs and sizing 33

4.1 Introduction 33
4.2 Costs 33
4.3 Sizing the array 34
4.4 The future of costs 39

5. PVs in buildings 41
5.1 Introduction 41
5.2 Grid-connection and metering 41
5.3 System considerations 42
5.4 Modules and cables 45
5.5 Plant rooms 47

Part Two 49

6. Cambridge Botanic Garden, Cambridge, UK 51

Randall Thomas

7. Solar village at Amersfoort, Holland 61

Bill Watts and Randall Thomas

8. Parkmount Housing, Belfast 68

Richard Partington

9. The Charter School 79

Randall Thomas

10. The Solar Office: Doxford International 86

David Lloyd Jones

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 11. The Earth Centre canopy 100
Peter Clegg

12. University of Cambridge, Department of Earth

Sciences, BP Institute 105
Chris Cowper and Philip Armitage

13. Haileybury Imperial College 114

Bill Watts

14. PVs in perspective 123

Bill Dunster

15. Conclusion 138

Randall Thomas

APPENDIX A 141

References and bibliography 145

Glossary 146

Illustration Acknowledgements 149

Index 151

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Contributors

Philip Armitage joined Max Fordham & Partners in 1988 after graduating
from Durham University, and became a partner in 1992. He has worked
on a wide variety of projects, including the restoration of the Savoy Theatre,
London and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester.

Peter Clegg is a Senior Partner with Feilden Clegg Bradley, having

established the practice with Richard Feilden in 1978. Educated at
Cambridge and Yale, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath
School of Architecture. He has more than twenty years’ experience in low
energy architecture, including the development of passive solar and super-
insulated housing under EEC demonstration grants in the 1980s. Peter is
actively involved in design, research and education at the forefront of
environmental design. In 1998 he was nominated by the RIBA as Designer
of the Year for the Prince Philip Awards. Peter was partner in charge on the
New Environmental Building for the Building Research Establishment, and
current projects include The Earth Centre, Yorkshire ArtSpace, the Yorkshire
Sculpture Park, Stourhead, Painshill Park, and masterplanning a new
campus for Falmouth College of Arts.

Chris Cowper qualified from Kingston School of Architecture in 1975. He

worked for the GLC Department of Architecture and Design and was a
member of the research group into Self-build Housing funded by the
Department of the Environment. After working for Cambridge Design, he set
up Chris Cowper Associates in 1980 and was joined by James Griffith in
1984. Cowper Griffith Associates is now one of the leading firms of
architects in the Cambridge area.

Bill Dunster, a graduate of Edinburgh University, worked with Michael

Hopkins and Partners for fifteen years before forming Bill Dunster Architects
which operates from Hope House in Molesey, a prototype solar Live/work
unit. He was involved with the EU-funded Joule research projects working
towards zero energy urban buildings, and has taught at the Architectural
Association and the University of Kingston. More recent work includes the new
Michael Hopkins Jubilee campus at Nottingham University, and the mixed
development urban village at Beddington in Surrey for the Peabody Trust.

Bill Gething joined Feilden Clegg Bradley in 1981, becoming a partner in

1983, and is a member of the RIBA Sustainable Futures Committee. He has
special responsibility for the practice’s research work and collaborated with
Randall Thomas in producing Photovoltaics in Buildings – A Design Guide,
an ETSU-funded guide for architects and engineers.

Tim Grainger studied physics and holds an M.Sc. in optoelectronics. He

was with Max Fordham & Partners from 1997 to 1999, and is now doing
research for his Ph.D.

Michael Keys joined Feilden Clegg Bradley in 1995, becoming a partner

in 1999. He is the designer of the 1000 square metre photovoltaic
installation at The Earth Centre, Yorkshire, and collaborated with Randall
Thomas in producing Photovoltaics in Buildings – A Design Guide, an ETSU-
funded guide for architects and engineers. Areas of special interest include
earth building techniques and building integrated photovoltaic technology.
He has taught at Portsmouth University, Oxford Brookes University and for
the past three years at Bath University.

David Lloyd Jones is a director of Studio E Architects. He is a leading

exponent in the design of low-energy and renewable buildings. He is also
heavily involved in promotion and research in this field. Projects include the

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 seminal NFUM&A Insurance Head Office, the photovoltaic integrated Solar
Office at Sunderland and the current zero-emissions RES Head Office and
Visitors’ Centre. He recently published Architecture and the Environment.

Richard Partington worked for Nicholas Hare Architects before establishing

his own practice, which specialises in urban renewal schemes and low-
energy projects, in 1998. A design consultant for the Cardiff Bay
Development Corporation, his work includes the prize-winning Charities Aid
Foundation offices at King’s Hill in Kent, the Nokia Telecommunications
Research and Development Facility masterplan and the Latymer School
Performing Arts Centre.

Randall Thomas is a senior partner of Max Fordham & Partners and a

Visiting Professor in Architectural Science at the School of Architecture,
University of Kingston. He has lectured widely on sustainable architecture in
England and France. His numerous publications include Environmental
Design, which he edited, and Photovoltaics in Buildings – A Design Guide,
for which he was principal author.

Bill Watts MSc graduated from St Catherine’s College, Oxford where he

received a BA(Hons) in Zoology, and Stirling University where he received
an M.Sc. He became a partner of MFP in 1982, a director in 1986, and
an Engineering Group Leader in 1987. As group leader he has headed
projects such as Grove Road School which won the HVAC and
Independent on Sunday Green Building of the Year Award in 1993, the
Avenue Estates housing refurbishment, a housing development at Milton
Court Estate, a theatre and pool complex in Borehamwood and the Judge
Institute of Management Studies. He was in charge of work on the
warehouse at the Tate Gallery, Liverpool, the refurbishments at Chesham
Place, the brief for Milton Keynes Art Gallery and an environmental study for
Leighton House, a Grade II listed building, housing the work of Lord
Leighton and other artists of his time. Bill is working on a number of projects
using photovoltaics including Haileybury Girls’ School and the offices for
Renewable Energy Systems.

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Foreword

Randall Thomas has done an important service to the design community by

assembling this primer on basic photovoltaic (PV) concepts, practice, and
field examples for the UK and northern Europe. The treatment is clear, well-
organised, and practical.

Further opportunities can yield economics even better than the authors
describe. Exceptionally close attention to efficient use of electricity costs far
less than producing it, especially by PVs. The publications of Rocky
Mountain Institute’s Green Development Services (www.rmi.org) describe
how highly integrated design, starting at the preconception stage, can often
make highly energy-efficient buildings cost less to construct, due largely to
making costly mechanical systems smaller or eliminating them altogether.
Combined with deep daylighting and small power and lighting loads of
only 2 and 3W/m2 the annual energy demands of offices in Northern
Europe can be reduced to only a few kWh/m2. These buildings can cost
several percent less than normal to build, have higher space efficiency, and
yield superior human, environmental, market, and financial performance. As
described in Natural Capitalism (www.natcap.org), such very large
resource savings often cost less than small savings.

PVs become far more attractive in buildings that need so little electricity. PVs
can also contribute to systems which provide ultra-reliable, ultra-high quality
electricity such as those in the flagship New York speculative office, Four
Times Square. PVs also provide constant-price electricity that valuably
avoids the financial risk of price volatility and they avoid the costs and
losses of the grid (generally the costliest part of the modern electricity supply
system). These and scores of other “distributed benefits” can increase the
economic value of PVs by roughly tenfold in most cases, making them
competitive today in most applications, even in British climes. A primer on
this more involved style of analysis will be published in 2001 by Rocky
Mountain Institute as Small Is Profitable: The Hidden Economic Benefits of
Making Electrical Resources the Right Size.

Many technological improvements will also make PVs ever more ubiquitous,
including reversible hydrogen fuel cells that efficiently store and regenerate
electricity plus valuable heat. But perhaps the most important advance will
be in rearranging people’s mental furniture. Buildings that are net producers
of energy – and of beauty, food and water, and delight — are a key
element of the better life, lived more lightly, that the 21st Century offers. I
hope this book will help to launch many more designers on that path. All
our lives will be the brighter for it.

Amory B Lovins, CEO (Research), Rocky Mountain Institute (www.RMI.OKA)

OLD SNOWMASS, COLORADO, 29 OCTOBER 2000

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 Preface

Architecture and environmental engineering continue to grow closer to each

other and the use of photovoltaics in buildings is the most recent step in this
development. It is not only individual buildings but also the fabric of our
cities and towns which is being affected.

Photovoltaics will make an important functional contribution to sustainable

development, and at least some of our buildings will become small power-
stations.

In the following chapters we have provided a basic introduction to building-

integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) and case studies covering varying building
types and settings. Numerous examples shown illustrate our belief that PV
projects must be visually attractive as well as efficient. In many ways these
are the first steps towards a solar renaissance.

We hope they will help you go further. Good Luck!

Randall Thomas

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Acknowledgements

Chapters 1–6 originally formed the ETSU publication Photovoltaics in

Buildings – a Design Guide, written by Randall Thomas (principal author),
Tim Grainger, Bill Gething and Mike Keys with numerous illustrations by
Tony Leitch. We would like to thank ETSU through the DTI New and
Renewable Energy Program for allowing the material to be incorporated in
the book and in particular Dr Julian Wilczek for his assistance. We also
appreciate the ongoing co-operation and assistance of Bill Gething and
Mike Keys.

We would like to thank the following people who gave generously of their
time, in providing useful guidance, in showing us around PV installations, or
in reviewing parts of the text of the Design Guide:

Mr Bill Dunster
Dr Aidan Duffy
Ms Helen Lloyd
Mr David Lloyd Jones
Dr Nicola Pearsal
Dr Susan Roaf
Ms Sara Wigglesworth

Our appreciation is also due to various manufacturers and system installers,

including BP Solar, EETS (Dr Bruce Cross), Schüco (Mr John Stamp), Wind
and Sun (Mr Steve Wade) and SMA for invaluable discussions and
information. In addition, we would like to thank Mr Reiner Pos of REMU for
his help in preparing Chapter 7; Mr Ray Noble of BP Amoco for his
technical assistance in the preparation of Chapter 8; and the generous
assistance given by Penoyre & Prasad and Southwark Building Design
Service in the preparation of Chapter 9.

Chapters 8, 10–12 and 14 were first presented at a conference entitled

“New Technology New Architecture” at Kingston University and we
gratefully acknowledge their interest and support.

It goes without saying (but perhaps not without writing) that any errors or
misunderstanding are due to us alone. We welcome all comments.

Note to readers

One intention of this publication is to provide an overview for those involved

in building and building services design and for students of these
disciplines. It is not intended to be exhaustive or definitive and it will be
necessary for users of the information to exercise their own professional
judgement when deciding whether or not to abide by it.

It cannot be guaranteed that any of the material in the book is appropriate

to a particular use. Readers are advised to consult all current Building
Regulations, British Standards or other applicable guidelines, Health and
Safety codes and so forth, as well as up-to-date information on all materials
and products.

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 PART ONE

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1

Introduction

If the 19th century was the age of coal and the 20th of oil, the 21st will
be the age of the sun.

Solar energy is set to play an ever-increasing role in generating the form,

and affecting the appearance and construction, of buildings. The principal
reason for this is that photovoltaic (PV) systems which produce electricity
directly from solar radiation are becoming more widespread as their
advantages become apparent and as costs fall. PVs are an advanced
materials technology that will help us design buildings which are
environmentally responsible, responsive and exciting. These will take a
variety of forms as shown in Figures 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3. In Figure 1.1 the
PVs are part of the roof structure; in the other figures they form the south-
facing walls.

This book provides an overview of how PVs work and are incorporated in
the design of buildings; it gives the information that designers and, in
particular, architects, need. It is for those who wish to assess the feasibility
of using PVs in a specific project, for those who have already decided to
use PVs and want to know how to do so and for those with the foresight to
want to plan their buildings for PVs in the future. The last category has its

Figure 1.1
Model of the design for a PV canopy
at the Earth Centre, Doncaster (see
Chapter 11)

Figure 1.2
Solar Office, Doxford (Sunderland)
(see Chapter 10)

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 Figure 1.3
BP Solar Showcase

counterpart in designers and building owners in New York who in the latter
part of the 19th century built lift shafts and fitted the lifts themselves later
when finances permitted. Although most applications of building-integrated
PVs are not cost-effective at present, it is anticipated that they will be in the
not too distant future (Chapter 4).

We have addressed new buildings especially and covered a number of

building types and sectors; much of the technology could be applied as a
retrofit to existing buildings. Our focus is on PV systems which are building-
integrated and grid-connected. PVs are a proven, commercially-available
technology. In grid-connected systems, the PVs operate in parallel with the
grid, so if the PV supply is less than demand the grid supplies the balance;
when there is excess energy from the PV system it can be fed back to the grid.
Building-integrated, grid-connected systems have the following advantages:

• The cost of the PV wall or roof can be offset against the cost of the
building element it replaces.
• Power is generated on site and replaces electricity which would
otherwise be purchased at commercial rates.
• By connecting to the grid the high cost of storage associated with
stand-alone systems is avoided and security of supply is ensured.
• There is no additional requirement for land.

One of our starting points is that PVs should be considered as an integral

part of the overall environmental strategy of energy-efficient building design.
PVs will be a key element in furthering this approach to building and will
help us move towards what we call Positive Energy Architecture, ie
buildings which are net energy producers over the course of a year rather
than consumers.

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Another starting point was planting our feet firmly in the UK – the book
deals with its weather conditions. However, as can be seen from Figure
1.4, annual irradiation is similar in much of Northern Europe (sometimes
referred to poetically as ”the cloudy North“) and the growing PV movements
in, for example, Germany and the Netherlands should encourage us.

Figure 1.4
Solar irradiation over Europe
(kWh/m2/y)

The book is set out in a way that mimics the design process:

• Chapter 2 introduces some basic PV concepts.

• Chapter 3 discusses the site and building and the design options.
• Chapter 4 examines costs and sizing.
• Chapter 5 looks at the integration of PVs inside the building.

In addition we include a number of case studies, an Appendix setting out a

number of technical points and a Glossary.

We have tried to set out the issues in a straightforward manner but it should
be remembered that real design is always iterative, often illogical and
occasionally inspired – the art is in attaining the right mixture.

We hope the book will give an idea of the variety and flexibility of PVs and
of their design and aesthetic potential; if we as a design community are
successful, our local and global environments will be enhanced.

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 2

What are photovoltaics?

Figure 2.1 2.1 Introduction

Diagram of PV principle
PV systems convert solar radiation into electricity. They are not to be
confused with solar panels which use the sun’s energy to heat water (or air)
for water and space heating. This chapter looks at PVs and examines a
number of issues of interest to designers including:

• PV module size and shape.

• Colour.
• Manufacturing technology.
• Environmental issues.
• Energy production.

2.2 PVs

Figure 2.2 The most common PV devices at present are based on silicon. When the
Direct and diffuse radiation devices are exposed to the sun, direct current (DC) flows as shown in Figure
2.1 (see Appendix A for greater detail). PVs respond to both direct and
diffuse radiation (Figure 2.2) and their output increases with increasing
sunshine or, more technically, irradiance (Figure A.3).

PVs are ubiquitous. They power calculators and navigation buoys, form the
wings of satellites and solar planes (Figure 2.3), and are beginning to
appear on cars. As we saw in Chapter 1, a number of buildings in the UK
use them, eg, the Solar Office in Doxford (Figures 1.2 and 2.4).

Figure 2.3
PV modules on a solar plane

Figure 2.4
Solar Office, Doxford

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Common PVs available are monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon
and thin film silicon (using amorphous silicon). A typical crystalline cell might
be 100 ⫻ 100mm. Cells are combined to form modules. Table 2.1 shows
typical efficiencies.

Table 2.1
PV efficiencies
Type Approximate Approximate
cell efficiencya module efficiencya
% %
1. Monocrystalline silicon 13–17 (1) 12–15 (2)
2. Polycrystalline silicon 12–15 (1) 11–14 (2)
3. Thin-film silicon (using 5 (3) 4.5–4.9 (2)
amorphous silicon)

a. Efficiencies are determined under standard test conditions (STC).

Theoretical maximum efficiencies for silicon are about 30%. Actual

efficiencies are improving. In solar car races PVs with efficiencies of about
25% are being used. New materials such as copper indium diselenide (CIS)
and cadmium telluride (CdTe) are being introduced. Novel approaches such
as producing multijunction cells which use a wider part of the solar spectrum
are another aspect of a drive to increase efficiency.

Figure 2.5
A Cambridge tree, near an array of
17th century solar collectors (ie
windows)

Figure 2.6
Crystalline silicon cell

It is also useful to keep efficiencies in perspective. A tree (Figure 2.5) relies

on photosynthesis, a process which has been functioning in seed plants for
over 100,000,000 years and only converts 0.5–1.5% of the absorbed
light into chemical energy (4).

More recently, the national grid has proved only 25–30% efficient in
providing us with electricity from fossil fuels.

Crystalline silicon cells consist of p-type and n-type silicon (Appendix A) and
electrical contacts as shown schematically in Figure 2.6.

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