New Solar Facade System Gets Day in Sun
An innovative solar facade system developed by the Center for Architecture Science and Energy (CASE) is getting its chance to shine in New York. The concept involves turning office windows into renewable energy generators. The manifestation of that concept is an "integrated concentrating dynamic solar facade" that uses a number of clear glass pyramids to focus sunlight onto tiny, high-efficiency, multi-junction solar cells.
In addition to concentrated photovoltaics (CPV), the system also provides solar thermal heating. Cool water is pumped through the facade, keeping the solar cells cool to maximize efficiency. That waste heat can be captured and used for solar thermal space or water heating.
The facade has a third application as well, passive solar lighting. The grid of glass pyramids also diffuses and deflects sunlight, allowing office workers with eastern exposure to work under natural light all morning while still enjoying a view, albeit a partially obstructed one.
CASE has partnered with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP, an architectural firm, to create a prototype of the system. That prototype will see real world-action as one of many green design features on a new eco-friendly building in Syracuse, New York. It is an 8 x 8-foot panel that went operational after the building's dedication last Friday. A second, portable prototype is also being used on-site.
CPV, solar thermal heating and passive solar lighting are nothing new. But CASE's innovative prototype marks the first time the three technologies have been combined in such a way. The cost to produce the system, as well as any plans for commercialization, are unclear. Yet there's no denying the significance of a little real-world experience for yet another solar invention that could have a significant impact on notoriously energy-sucking office buildings.
Story & Photo Via MSNBC
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