European BIPV Case Sharing || Sweden's Colorful Solar Facade for Multi-Storey Garage

Soltech Energy combined with cadmium telluride solar glass installed a 646.6 kW solar façade in a newly built garage in Gothenburg, Sweden. The garage features 300 electric vehicle charging stations and, with the use of cadmium telluride solar glass, provides green energy while adding a touch of Scandinavian design flair.

The company has developed a special design tailored to buildings with specific airflow patterns by addressing two key requirements of the garage.

▲Firstly, due to the emissions from vehicles, airflow within the garage is crucial.

▲Secondly, the façade is constructed using semi-transparent modules, requiring a certain angle of inclination.

Due to these two reasons, the company decided to use prefabricated 11-meter hot-dip galvanized steel structures built by Fasadsystem. These structures allow for the placement of façade modules with 40% transparency at the desired angle before connecting to the walls. Additionally, they provide necessary air channels through the gaps between horizontal panel surfaces on the garage walls, addressing both requirements. Anna Svensson, the company's Chief Innovation Officer, stated that this structure and module configuration facilitate easy, high-quality and rapid installation. The garage project was completed and operational in just about one and a half months.

The solar facade consists of 1,096 pieces of semi-transparent CdTe thin-film solar glass, each sized 1,200mm x 600mm x 6.8mm, covering a total area of 0.72 square meters. The unique feature of this glass lies in the thin black lines embedded within the double-layer glass interlayer, visible only within a distance of less than two meters. Beyond that distance, only the color of the entire panel is visible. (CdTe thin-film solar panels are available in red, blue, orange, and green.)

The grid-connected solar facade provides power to the garage, which houses approximately 300 electric vehicle charging stations. The system comprises 1,096 pieces of 40% transparent CdTe solar glass-glass frameless panels, delivering a power output of 54 kilowatts to the garage.

Finally, Svensson noted that this solar facade concept can be compared with any decorative facade. 

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