Development of adjustable solar photovoltaic system for integration with solar shading louvers on building façades

Increasing energy demand and its correlation with global warming underscore the urgency of exploring renewable energy sources, particularly solar power. This requirement is even more pronounced for mid- and high-rise buildings characterized by substantial energy consumption, necessitating the identification of optimal locations for solar panel installations. The purpose of this study is to develop an autonomously adjusted solar photovoltaic (PV) system for integration with solar shading louvers (adjustable PV louver system). Because the system can automatically adjust the angle of the solar PV panels by tracking the movement of the sun, electricity generation can be enhanced. To evaluate the performance of the adjustable PV louver system, we measured the amount of electricity generation with prototype model and developed a numerical analysis model for power generation calculations and a heating and cooling load calculation model. The major obtained findings are as follows: (1) Compared with a stationary PV louver system with fixed angles, actual measurement result shows that the adjustable vertical PV louver system exhibited a notable 7.3% improvement in daily electricity generation, whereas the adjustable horizontal PV louver system demonstrated an even more significant increase of 9.3%. (2) A parametric study involving the number of louvers was conducted to evaluate the influence of the shadows on each louver. The results showed that despite the presence of shadows between louvers, maintaining the number of louvers required to cover the window width resulted in improved electricity generation. (3) Heating and cooling load calculation for an office building in Japan shows that installing the adjustable horizontal PV louver system on window surfaces consumes the least amount of electricity.