Potential Strategies for Enhancing Solar Architectural Skins

As the climate crisis requires lowering carbon emissions on multiple fronts, building-
integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs) can reduce buildings’ reliance on energy from fossil fuels
by supplying them with electricity generated from a renewable source. Integrating
photovoltaics into the building envelope brings advantages such as onsite energy
generation and economic savings, besides improving aesthetics compared to building
applied photovoltaic (BAPV) solutions. Nonetheless, embedding photovoltaics into
architectural skins entails a trade-off between appearance and efficient energy generation.
While regulatory frameworks and dropping prices have facilitated the spread of first- and
second-generation photovoltaics for architectural applications, less established
photovoltaic-based technologies may have the potential to improve the efficiency and
appearance of solar architectural skins. They may reduce the amount of photovoltaic
material to be integrated into the building envelope while increasing its energy conversion
efficiency. Through an interdisciplinary review of academic literature and design examples,
this study explores the potential of less-established photovoltaic-based solutions for
architectural façade applications. It relates advances in photovoltaics to existing façade
designs, towards proposing a range of potential strategies for improving buildings’
architectural image and electricity generation through façade-integrated solar
technologies.