Profile: Mr.

Faraz Ahhmed Siddiqui is an MBA from The Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi-Pakistan and has possesses solid background in business management, development and operations management. He is keenly interested in new and upcoming technologies geared towards sustainability. He is currently working as a Business Manager in Specialized Building Aluminium Solutions Corp. (SBASCO) which is a Premium Quality Aluminium Systems Fabricator and also the Authorized Fabricator for Reynaers Aluminium-Belgium. The author can be reached at frz.siddiqui@yahoo.com

PHOTOVOLTAICS If the 19th century was the age of Coal and the 20th of Oil, the 21st will be the age of the Sun! When we hear the word Photo Voltaic (PV), we immediately recognize that this has something to do with Solar energy and hence Solar cells. The Solar cell is at the heart of any Photovoltaic system. Typically what a Photovoltaic system does is to magnify the sunlight as much as 400 to 1000 suns on a small area of Photovoltaic cells/Solar cells. This is done by a combination of large area of lenses or mirrors to focus sunlight on a small area of photovoltaic cells. A SOLAR PANEL? A Photovoltaic system should not be confused with Solar panel. While a PV system convert solar radiation into electricity, Solar panels use the suns energy to heat water (or air) for water and space heating.

BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC In this ever changing World, it had been recognized in the beginning of the 21 st Century that Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) is at the heart Sustainable Development and makes a for very important functional contribution to Sustainable Development. 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 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 and facades which are environmentally responsible, responsive and exciting.

PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES The most common PV devices at present are based on silicon. Materials presently used for Photovoltaics include monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon, microcrystalline silicon, cadmium telluride, and copper indium selenide/sulfide. When the devices are exposed to the sun, direct current (DC) flows as shown in below Figure.

PVs respond to both direct and diffuse radiation as shown in below figure and their output increases with increasing sunshine or, more technically, irradiance:

PVs are ubiquitous. They are power calculators and navigation buoys, form the wings of satellites and solar planes and are beginning to appear on cars even!

EFFICIENCY OF PV CELLS Common PVs available are monocrystalline silicon, polycrystalline silicon and thin film silicon (using amorphous silicon). A typical crystalline cell might be 100x100mm. Cells are combined to form modules. Below Table shows typical efficiencies: PV efficiencies Type Monocrystalline silicon Polycrystalline silicon Thin-film silicon (using amorphous silicon)

Approximate cell efficiency a % 1317 (1) 1215 (1) 5 (3)

Approximate module efficiency a % 1215 (2) 1114 (2) 4.54.9 (2)

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

Theoretical maximum efficiencies for silicon are about 30%. Actual efficiencies are improving. It is also useful to keep efficiencies in perspective. A tree relies on photosynthesis, a process which has been functioning in seed plants for over

100,000,000 years and only converts 0.51.5% of the absorbed light into chemical energy. The National grid which provides electricity from fossil fuels has only proved 2530% efficient. PV LIFECYCLE AND PAYBACK PERIOD PVs have long lifetimes. There are installations that have been in operation for 15 years or more. The PV mechanism at the cell level itself is not the issue and will function, in principle, indefinitely. However, over long periods of time, it is possible with some types of module that water might get in, affect the junctions and thus reduce the output. Thus, we are now beginning to see guarantees worded as at least 80% of rated minimum power for 20 years. Environmentally, PVs have the significant advantages of producing no pollutant emissions in use and, by replacing grid-generated electricity with solar energy used mainly on site, reducing CO2, NOx (nitrogen oxides) and SOx (SO2 and SO3) emissions. Energy is, of course, required for their production but the energy payback period (the time for the PV installation to produce as much energy as is required for manufacture) is in the order of 5~10 years. But, when we talk about the financial payback of a PV installation, it boils down to the local energy tariffs. For example a typical PV installation in Europe may have a financial payback in 6~20 years which makes it more viable coupled with tax savings to have one on a building facade but when we talk about the Middle east, more specifically the G.C.C: the financial payback is not less than 175 years! This is due to the low cost of energy within the region. WHAT AFFECTS THE OUTPUT OF A PV SYSTEM The output from building-integrated PV installations is the output of the PV array less the losses in the rest of the system. The output from the array will depend on: The daily variation in sunlight due to the rotation of the earth and the seasonal variation due to the orientation of the Earths axis and the movement of the Earth about the Sun; Location, i.e. the solar radiation available at the site; Tilt of the PV panel; Azimuth, i.e. orientation with respect to due south; Shadowing; and Temperature.

WHY USE PV IN BUILDINGS? PVs offer enormous potential to building designers but, as an architect has said, It Has To Be Done Right From The Start they should not be an afterthought. PVs can influence the buildings orientation, footprint, layout and form; they will affect the building fabric and will be an important element of the environmental and building systems. Reasons for wanting to use PVs include Supplying on site all or, more likely, a portion of the annual electrical requirement of the building in order to reduce running costs; Supplying the maximum power demand, or, more probably, some fraction of it; Making a contribution to the environment; Making a statement about innovative architectural and engineering design; Using them as a demonstration or educational project. There are three basic ways of integrating PVs in buildings Roof-based systems (Horizontal flat type Skylight or Panel); Facade systems (Curtain Walling); Sunshades and Sunscreens (Louvered PVs). Out of the three above, Curtain Walling PV solutions are increasing as Aluminium System suppliers gear up to provide Curtain Walling solutions which not only integrate PV into their elements but also provide for a One Stop solution for Architects and builders Worldwide. Curtain walling systems are a well-established technology used in numerous prestige projects. The mullion/transom stick system is the most common. Vision areas are normally double-glazed and non-vision areas are either opaque glass or insulated metal panels. PV modules can be incorporated easily as factory-assembled double-glazed units. The outer pane might be laminated glass-PV-resin-glass and the inner pane, glass, with a sealed air gap between; the overall thickness of the module would typically be under 30mm. Above not only provides for Thermal protection but also incorporates premium acoustic performance as well.

An array of PV panels at Reynaers Aluminium-Belgium Headquarters in Duffel. These new generation PV panels are designed so to provide for 60% electricity usage of all offices within the Reynaers complex.

A closer look at the PV Panels on the Roof top of Reynaers Aluminium-Belgium Headquarter in Duffel.

Above depicted pictures show some of the variations within the Aluminium structures in which the PV can easily be integrated with little or no efforts.