Daylight and solar control in building: A new angle selective see-thorough PV-façade for solar control

In a World more and more concerned about carbon emissions, global warming, and sustainable design, the planned use of natural light in buildings and the design of good solar control façade has become an important strategy to improve energy efficiency by minimizing lighting, heating and cooling loads. Buildings account for almost 40% of overall energy consumption. The majority of this demand is due to the energy needed to provide sufficient indoor comfort. In addition electricity is required for artificial lighting and equipments. But fortunately it has been shown by various projects that especially new buildings are able to become a neutral energy balance on an annual basis ("net-zero-energy buildings"). To produce the same amount of energy, using renewable energy sources, as it consumes during the entire year, significant reduction in energy consumption and the use of renewable or non-finite energy sources are required. As result building envelop becomes really importa nt as it provides the necessary area for the installation of the collectors. An example of a new multifunctional angle selective glazing PV façade is here presented. It combines in one-element four important tasks: solar protection, glare protection, visual contact and integrated PV-system for electricity production. These four elements, as are completely integrated in the function of the façade, do not reduce the architectural goal of the glazed façade and the view from the interior to the exterior is guaranteed. RADIANCE simulations are carried out to assess the visual contact and the daylight level in office space. The paper shows the capability of this new system together with the building integration.