Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
An important application of thin-film solar panel technology is its use as a surface material for building exteriors. With thin-film technology, solar panels no longer are relegated to rooftops and uniformly angled, skyward-facing positions. Instead, entire building exteriors --windows, walls, spandrels, rooftops-- can be clad in electricity-generating glass panels. The economic advantage of this application is most pronounced when the panels are integrated during new construction. In such a case, the investment to obtain the solar power-generating capacity is merely the difference in cost between the thin-film solar panels and what otherwise would have been spent anyway on standard tempered glass, metal, stone or other glazing and cladding.
To facilitate their integration into buildings, Amelio Solar thin-film solar panels are available in a larger form factor that more closely resembles the component dimensions of typical building exterior materials. These large-sized panels are produced by adding a final stage onto the standard Amelio Solar thin-film panel production line, the budget for which already has been factored-into the financial projections in this document. At this manufacturing stage, up to four standard Amelio Solar thin-film panels (each 63.5 centimeters wide by 124.5 centimeters long) can be joined edge-to-edge and laminated between two large plates of glass to form a “composited” thin-film solar panel up to 127 centimeters wide and 249 centimeters long.
System Configuration
A basic implementation of an Amelio Solar solar power system includes a series of thin-film solar panels connected to an inverter which converts their DC power output to AC power.
The AC power output is then passed through a meter, after which the circuit is connected to the local power grid or to the electrical panel of an immediate user’s site, where the electricity is consumed or stored in a battery for later consumption.
Car Port System, Al-Ain, UAE System Designed/Installed by Amelio Solar and F3 Energy Team Members
Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS): where a solar power system is integrated into the architecture –roof, walls, even windows (using Amelio Solar’s semi-transparent solar panels)– of a building to supply electricity to that building, including using batteries to store some power for later consumption. These buildings may include:
Single and multi-family residences
Commercial, institutional and industrial buildings
Office towers
Transportation centers
In many cases, these buildings, especially in developing countries and residences in remote areas, do not have access to a utility power grid and therefore rely entirely on the UPS system for electricity. After daylight hours, the grid-independent UPS systems supply electricity to the building by drawing on the system’s battery. In other cases, where the buildings are connected to a grid, the UPS system can be outfitted with a utility-interactive inverter which will manage the supply of power to the building based on availability (for example, switching to the solar panels and battery when a storm disrupts the utility power supply) and schedule (for example, drawing on the utility power during lower-priced, off-peak times of day then otherwise using power supplied by the solar panels and battery).
