Extract

The replacement of traditional glazing with semi-transparent/building-integrated photovoltaic
(STPV/BIPV) glass (STPV curtain glazing) provides benefits of reduced cooling and optimized lighting
energy besides generation of PV electricity. Energy optimization is carried out for several iterations with varying parameters of room depths and façade configurations to find the lowest net energy
requirement. For longer room depths, amorphous silicon with 10% transparency in the middle region
with an optimized upper height of 2m and with polysilicon cells in the upper and lower sections forms
the optimized STPV configuration for the south, east, and west for all the representative cities of various climates in India. For shorter room depths, the cooling energy is more pronounced than savings due to PV electricity generation. Compared to standard double glazing, the energy savings for optimized
configuration of STPV are 46% for a room depth of 4m and 23% for a room depth of 12m for the east
façade (Coimbatore) and 52% and 25% for 4m and 12m room depth for the south facade (New Delhi).
The payback or the excess cost of STPV from that of a standard DGU (double-glazed unit) could be
recovered in less than 8 years for the south, east, and west facades for Coimbatore, New Delhi, Mumbai,
and Bengaluru.

Keywords: Semi-transparent Photovoltaics (STPV); Building-integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) for Indian
cities; Solar Photovoltaics.

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