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Building-Integrated Photovoltaics: The BCIT Home 2000
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Photo: Michael Ross, RER Renewable Energy Research

Dr. Yves Poissant, a photovoltaics specialist at the CANMET Energy Technology Center-Varennes, examines the photovoltaic roof of the British Columbia Institute of Technology's Home 2000, located in Burnaby, BC, Canada, and built with support from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. PV cells laminated between two panes of glass create a roofing element that acts as a weather envelope and generates electricity. The module admits daylight through the 1 to 1.5 cm spaces between the photovoltaic cells. In this demonstration project, the electricity is fed directly onto the grid.

The rationale for building-integrated PV projects such as this is twofold: first, the effective cost of the PV array is reduced by the cost of the traditional building element it replaces (in this case, conventional roofing). Second, the slick integration makes the technology more attractive.

Buildings are complex systems, however, and optimizing a single component of the building does not necessarily translate into optimal overall building behaviour. In this installation, for example, the sunlight admitted by the roof causes the upper story of the home to overheat on warm days, necessitating air-conditioning. In colder climates, heat losses through the PV roofing could be another problem. For certain types of tasks, the high-contrast alternation of bright sky and dark PV cell can cause visual fatigue. None of these problems is insurmountable, but they point to the need for an understanding of how the PV element works within the building as a whole. This demonstration project focused on showing off the PV modules themselves, which it does quite successfully.

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Created 2005/12/04   Updated 2007/10/03     ©2005-2007 RER Renewable Energy Research