Net energy and cost benefit of phthalocyanine and heptamethine transparent photovoltaics in commercial buildings

• Published in: Sustainable energy technologies and assessments Vol. 53; p. 102631
• Main Authors: Shukla, Siddharth, Lee, Eunsang, Lunt, Richard R., Anctil, Annick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Building energy simulation; Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV); Life cycle assessment; Transparent photovoltaics; Life cycle assessment; Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV); Building energy simulation; Transparent photovoltaics
• ISSN: 2213-1388
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seta.2022.102631

[Display omitted] •Transparent organic photovoltaics (TOPVs) in window applications are considered.•The energy and cost benefits are compared for five building types and four climates.•CyTPFB TOPVs have 26.1% higher manufacturing energy demand than ClAlPc TOPVs.•Hospital has highest benefits because of its typical usage and window-wall ratio.•Energy payback time is 0.07–0.71 years which is lower than other PV technologies. There is a growing interest in using transparent organic photovoltaics (TOPVs) to generate on-site electricity and reduce building energy demand. This study evaluates the use of chloroaluminium phthalocyanine and heptamethine-based TOPVs in five types of commercial buildings and four climates in the U.S. The building energy demand is modeled with and without TOPVs, along with the electricity generation from the TOPVs, and the cradle to gate life-cycle cumulative energy demand to manufacture the TOPV modules on glass. The net energy benefit is positive for all five commercial buildings in all four locations meaning that more energy is produced or saved than used in manufacturing TOPVs. The energy payback times for TOPVs are less than other building integrated PV technologies. All commercial buildings save energy, cost, and greenhouse gas emissions with TOPVs, and the best applications depend on the building’s window-wall ratio, occupancy, and usage. In the future, the spectral properties of TOPVs could be tailored to save more cooling and heating energy based on the building’s structure, climate, and energy demand.