Vertical Solar (Building Facades/Cladding)

Challenges Of Constructing Vertical Solar Systems On Building Facade
Solar PV Systems are commonly installed on the rooftops to generate energy for buildings. However, the capacity of solar system to harness renewable energy for block services is currently limited by the space available on the building rooftops
Vertical Solar Photovoltaic (PV) on building facade or cladding can potentially overcome limitations caused by limited rooftop space and various authority regulation. With an additional façade allocated installation area, this greatly increase a building’s capability of generating electricity to meet the energy demands of the buildings and offers protection from the weather as well. The application of PV technology on vertical façade of the building is considered as an element of Building-Integrated PV. this would reduce the installations mostly to East-West facades where less or no windows are present. Due to the diurnal cycle, this will then also reduce the overall power generation as typically only one of the facades would be widely exposed to sun at a time.
Despite the potential benefits in Aesthetic design, Solar gain and lighting, it is difficult to optimize the performance of façade-mounted PV system in urban areas. The two bigger challenge of designing and developing such systems is to 1) minimize losses caused by shadows from nearby structures, 2) reduce the reflected light caused the Solar Glare issue. Careful planning is a crucial to building a Vertical Solar PV System that can overcome such challenges and maximize the energy generated by the system and Cost–effectiveness analysis (CEA) is also one of the main considerations.