Demonstration of an innovative Building Integrated Photovoltaic system toward net-zero-energy buildings.
| Partners: | LIFE BIPV Project: | ||||
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PROJECT OBJECTIVES
Buildings use large amounts of energy for their operations. They are responsible for 36% of CO2 emissions and 40% of energy consumption in EU. The 2010 EU Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings requires that Member States must set minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings, for major renovation of buildings and for replacement or retrofit of building elements. Energy production on-site is a sustainable strategy that will enable existing and new buildings decreasing their climate change impact. More specifically, building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) approaches have an important role in increasing the renewables’ share in the EU grid and the buildings’ efficiency throughout EU.
In line with this statement, LIFE BIPV project has set the following objectives in order to boost the use of the innovative BIPV systems:
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To demonstrate a new BIPV building envelope that enables a substantial reduction of CO2 emissions of buildings
The main targets of the project are:
- to demonstrate a direct CO2 emission decrease of at least 35% of a typical (nonresidential) building in Europe (excluding northern Europe) and
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CO2 emission decrease
- to decrease the carbon footprint of the solar harvesting technology by 67%.
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decrease the carbon footprint
Two demonstrators will be used on two different buildings located in two different climatic EU regions (ES and Central Europe). It’s planned to implement the solution in two existing buildings in order to proof the actual impact and demonstrate the applicability of the approach in existing buildings. The applicability of LIFE BIPV solution will be the same for both new and existing buildings without distinctions. The project will have a demonstration scale (2 BIPV envelope surfaces of 500 m²) so the results obtained will be significant and can be replicated and/or transferred.
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To prove the economic feasibility of the BIPV system at demonstration-scale
Feasibility will be monitored and proved through the Levelised Cost Of Electricity (LCOE). An LCOE between 15 ct/kWh and 28 ct/kWh for Central, Eastern, Western and Southern European countries is expected.
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To widely disseminate the project’s results in order to:
Show-case the impact on reduction of CO2 emissions towards net-zero-energy buildings
Review and push forward the standards in the construction/renovation sector
Reinforce the replication potential in EU for the construction and other sectors
LIFE BIPV Project mock-ups:
EXPECTED RESULTS
Compared to an average building with full consumption from the grid, LIFE BIPV targets a decrease of the GHG emission of a typical central, eastern, western or southern European building by at least 35%. For a demonstrator building with 500 m² of HeliaSol, an annual total decrease of 13.65t CO2e/year in DE and 12.85t CO2e/year in ES.
Compared to c-Si, a reduction of the carbon footprint by at least 67% is targeted
It is our target to demonstrate total system costs of 300 €/m². LIFE BIPV solution is directly applicable to building envelopes or construction materials without any supporting structures. It is our target to reach an LCOE between 15 ct/kWh and 28 ct/kWh for central, eastern, western and southern European countries.
Reach a positive public’s perception. This factor will be assessed (through surveys) in order to evaluate the technology’s acceptance and the aesthetics of the BIPV system.