APPLICATION OF BUILDING-INTEGRATED PV SYSTEMS IN ...

APPLICATION OF BUILDING-INTEGRATED PV SYSTEMS IN KOREA: CASE STUDYJun Tae KimDepartment of Architectural Engineering, Kongju National University, 182 Sinkwan-dong, Kongju,Chungnam, 314-701, Korea, +82 416 850 8653, +82 416 854 8659, jtkim@kongju.ac.krSoo Hong LeeCorporation R & D Center, Samsung SDI Co., 575 Sin-dong, Paldal-gu, Suwon, 442-390,Korea, +82 331 280 9333, +82 331 280 9349, euikyu@samsung.co.krYoon Sup YangKorea Research Council for Industrial, Science & Technology, 1376-1 Seocho 2-dong, Seocho-gu,Seoul, 137-072, Korea, +82 2 576 0561, +82 2 576 1780, yys@koci.re.krAbstract Interest in photovoltaics (PV) integration into buildings has been grown, where the PV modulesplay the role of building exterior components as an integral part of buildings as well as of producingelectricity. The use of building integrated PV (BIPV) systems is one of the fastest growing PV marketsworldwide. In Korea, PV systems have mainly used for electrification in remote islands, street lighting andcommunication facilities. Due to the limited market and restriction by local electrical laws, PV modules haverarely applied to buildings. However it is expected that the PV systems applied to buildings will be the majorKorean PV market. In the early 1990s, the application of PV modules to buildings was introduced in Korea.This paper describes two cases of BIPV applications.1. INTRODUCTIONInternationally, interest in PV integration into buildingsis growing, where the PV modules play the role ofbuilding exterior components as an integral part ofbuildings. It is believed that building integrated PV(BIPV) systems will be one of the fastest growing PVmarkets worldwide. This sector will take a substantialportion of Korean PV markets as well.In Korea, the use of PV has mainly been focused onremote islands, street lighting and communicationfacilities. As the Korean government has promoted the‘Rural Electrification Project” by replacing worn outdiesel generators with PV systems or by building newones, remote islands has been a major PV market. As theend of the year 1997, the total installed capacity of PVmodules was about 2475kWp. However, due to thelimited market and restriction by local electrical laws,PV systems have rarely applied to buildings in Korea. Inthe early 1990s, the application of PV systems integratedinto buildings was introduced in Korea. This paperdescribes two examples of BIPV buildings; one is anexhibition hall with grid-connected PV systems inTaejon and the other is a research institution building inYongin.2. KOREAN PV MARKETThe majority of the programs in the 1980s were forremote stand alone systems. During the 1990s theinstallation of PV systems has been remarkably increasedas shown in Table 1 (Yoon et al., 1998). Over the period1992-1997 the total installed power in Korea wasincreased by 68%. The annual growth rate of about 17%had been achieved in the year 1997 and 19.5% in theyear 1996.Table 1 Total Installed PV Power (kWp)Year Total Cumulative Installed PV Power1997 24751996 21131995 17681994 16811993 16311992 1471The Korean PV markets are still dominated by off-gridnon-domestic application sector that consisted of 83% ofthe total installed power in 1997. It is followed by offgriddomestic sector with a market share of about 12%.Of the various off-grid applications, telecommunicationis the largest sector of application. It is followed bylighthouse, street lighting, emergency telephone androad signals (Song, 1996). The main investors in thissector are public institutions such as the Korea Telecom,the Korean Maritime and Port Administration, the KoreaHighway Corporation, and the Korea Water ResourcesCorporation. In the off-grid sectors the PV-diesel hybridsytems for remote islands and isolated houses take thelargest share. These systems were mainly installed underthe government demonstration programs.For any of the systems the public funding has been thedominant source for Korean PV market at these times.The PV market of on-grid application took a smallportion of the total market; in 1997, it only took less than6% of the total installed PV power.

3.2 Samsung Institute of Engineering and ConstructionTechnology(SIECT), KihungThis building integrated with PV systems was introducedin 1997. It is located in Yongin (37.3 o North, 126.6 oEast), Kyunggi-do, south of Seoul. Figure 5 shows thesouth-west elevation of the building. The installed PVsystems have the total capacity of 100kWp and weredesigned and manufactured by Samsung Electronics andPilkington. The PV modules of single crystalline siliconwith a capacity of 40kWp integrated into buildingsunshades attached on its south wall. The 60kWpcapacity of polycrystalline silicon was applied to thebuilding roof (48kWp) and penthouse (12kWp). The PVsystems applied into this building are connected to gridsystem, but the PV system is not designed to feedelectricity into the grid.A PV sunshades(C in Figure 6) on each floor consists of19 PV panels, each of which has the dimension of 117cmby 247cm. The panels fixed to the south wall are inclinedat 55 o to the horizontal, even though the optimum anglecould be 32 o according to simulation results (Yoo et al,1997). The PV sunshades work as a shading device thatcan block excessive direct sunlight during the summertime, while producing electricity for the building use. Asthe PV panels are semi-transparent, it is possible to admita specific amount of light into the adjacent buildinginterior (Figure 7). Figure 8 shows the detail of thesunshades attached on the south wall.Figure 5 South-west view of SICECT buildingFigure 6 West elevation of SICECT buildingFigure 7 Sunshades of SICECT buildingThe PV systems installed on roof top shape waved inconsidering aesthetic aspect (A and B in Figure 6). Thesizes of the installed PV modules are 13m x 20 m and13m x 14.4m. The PV systems installed on penthousehave 15 PV panels, each of which has a moduledimension of 113cm x 502cm. The PV systems on rooftop and penthouse mounted on additional steel structuralframes(Figure 9), but the PV sunshades fixed on thesouth wall that can be regarded as building integrated PVcomponents in this building.There are two PV inverters connected for converting theDC output of the array to AC current; one is rated at40kW for the sunshade PV system and the other at 60kWfor the roof top and penthouse PV systems. The standardsystem efficiency is about 12% for the polycrystallinemodules and 14% for single crystalline at the sunshades

Figure 8 Detail of PV sunshadesFigure 10 Steel framed PV roof structure4. CONCLUSIONThe building integrated PV systems have not widelyapplied in Korea, but there are several examples that playa role as show cases. Grid-connected PV systems that arelocated at the point of use can bring maximumeconomical benefit. Since building integrated PVsystems can effectively utilizes attributes of PV systemsfor economical benefit, this area will be an early largescalemarket for PV systems. With proper understandingof PV system and building structures building integratedPV applications will be the most promising sectorleading to the expansion of the Korean PV markets.Recognizing the potential of PV applications intobuildings, the Korean government has started to supportresearch and development in this area. It has a programto install PV systems on 1000 houses by the year 2006.Besides of the efficiency of PV systems, the applicabilityof BIPV systems based on the understanding of the localarchitectural practice and the acceptability of theinnovative design by the public will be main factors thatdetermine the success of the project. It is also required torestructure local electricity regulations and other policiesto promote the PV market.REFERENCESFigure 9 Details of PV roof structureSong, J.S. (1996). PV technology status and prospects-Republic of Korea. In Implementing Agreement onPhotovoltaic Power Systems: IEA-PVPS Annual Report1996. Bruno, E-E (ed), pp 73-75. IEA-PVPS, Rome.Yoon, K.H., Song, J.S. and Jung M.W. (1998) National

eport of PV power applications in Korea 1996-1997. InIEA/PVPS Program and International Cooperation inPhotovoltaics, KIER Report 981321, Yoon K.H. et al(eds), KIER, Taejon.Yoo, S.H, Lee, E.T, and Lee, J-K. (1997) Performanceanalysis of the first building integrated photovoltaics(BIPV) in Korea. In Proceedings of 1997 ISES SolarWorld Congress, 24-29 August, Taejon, KIER, Taejon.