Solar Glass

The integration of solar technologies into the building envelope represents a demanding but promising alternative to common mounting systems. It enables the realization of high-quality architecture and can save cost for materials and installation. This approach also offers new options for the complex current distribution of solar thermal products.
In the framework of the project “Solar Glas”, we designed and implemented a solar activated glass facade for heat and electricity generation in cooperation with the facade manufacturer Konvortec GmbH & Co. KG and the insulating glass company Energy Glass GmbH.
Based on the manufacturer’s rear-ventilated glass façade system, thermal and photo-voltaic-thermal glass modules were developed and tested. The project focused on un-covered assemblies to be combined with heat-pump supply systems. For the thermal modules, we have implemented a new concept, according to which the full-surface enameled glass cladding of the facade is used as solar absorber. The main project challenge was the selection of a suitable heat exchanger and a suitable joining technique between glass pane and heat exchanger. The resulting solar modules cannot be distinguished from the conventional glass claddings, offer the same design freedom (color, geometry) and can be easily adapted to the specific project. The installation also takes place in a fast and simple way, similarly to the non-activated panels.
The results of power measurements on thermal and photovoltaic-thermal modules show the wide range of achievable thermal efficiencies in dependence of the specific module design (heat exchanger geometry, color and type of the pane, coating).
Finally, we have installed and investigated a large-sized facade prototype at ISFH. The long-term analysis confirmed the simple integration, the performance and the usability of these innovative solar modules.