Review on the progress of building-applied/integrated photovoltaic system

Integration of photovoltaic (PV) technologies with building envelopes started in the early 1990 to meet the building energy demand and shave the peak electrical load. The PV technologies can be either attached or integrated with the envelopes termed as building-attached (BA)/building-integrated (BI) PV system. The BAPV/BIPV system applications are categorized under the building envelope roof and facades as PV-roof, PV-skin facade, PV-Trombe wall, PV claddings, and louvers. This review covers various factors that affect the design and performance of the BAPV/BIPV system applications. The factors identified are air gap, ventilation rate, a tilt angle of PV shading devices, adjacent shading, semitransparent PV (STPV) glazing design, cell coverage ratio (CCR), transmittance, window to wall ratio (WWR), and glazing orientation. Furthermore, the results of the possible factors are compared to building locations. This review article will be beneficial for researchers in designing the BAPV/BIPV system and provides future research possibilities.

Automated summary

The review discusses various factors affecting the design and performance of building-attached (BA) and building-integrated (BI) PV system applications, including air gap, ventilation rate, tilt angle of PV shading devices, adjacent shading, semitransparent PV (STPV) glazing design, cell coverage ratio (CCR), transmittance, window to wall ratio (WWR), and glazing orientation. The comparison of results based on these factors to building locations will be beneficial for researchers in designing BAPV/BIPV systems and identifying future research possibilities.