Photovoltaics and architecture

Photovoltaics and Architecture

Photovoltaics and Architecture

Edited by Randall Thomas Max Fordham & Partners

London and New York

First published 2001 by Spon Press 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Spon Press 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003. Spon Press is animprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 2001 Selection and editorial matter: The partners of Max Fordham & Partners; individual chapters, the contributors All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any informationstorage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalog record for the book has been requested ISBN 0-203-16582-9 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-26042-2 (Adobe eReader Format) ISBN 0-415-23182-5(Print Edition)

Contents

List of contributors Foreword by Amory Lovins Preface by Randall Thomas Acknowledgements Part One 1. 2. Introduction What are photovoltaics? 2.1 Introduction 2.2 PVs 2.3 How much energy do PV systems produce? PVs on 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 buildings Introduction The brief Site considerations Building type Design and construction Forms and systems What difference doPVs make?

vii ix x xi 1 3 6 6 6 10 17 17 17 18 18 21 23 29 33 33 33 34 39 41 41 41 42 45 47

3.

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Costs and sizing 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Costs 4.3 Sizing the array 4.4 The future of costs PVs in buildings 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Grid-connection and metering 5.3 System considerations 5.4 Modules and cables 5.5 Plant rooms

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Part Two 6. Cambridge Botanic Garden, Cambridge, UK RandallThomas Solar village at Amersfoort, Holland Bill Watts and Randall Thomas Parkmount Housing, Belfast Richard Partington The Charter School Randall Thomas The Solar Office: Doxford International David Lloyd Jones

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The Earth Centre canopy Peter Clegg University of Cambridge, Department of Earth Sciences, BP Institute ChrisCowper and Philip Armitage Haileybury Imperial College Bill Watts PVs in perspective Bill Dunster Conclusion Randall Thomas

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APPENDIX A References and bibliography Glossary Illustration Acknowledgements Index

141 145 146 149 151

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Contributors

Philip Armitage joined Max Fordham & Partners in 1988 after graduating from DurhamUniversity, and became a partner in 1992. He has worked on a wide variety of projects, including the restoration of the Savoy Theatre, London and the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Peter Clegg is a Senior Partner with Feilden Clegg Bradley, having established the practice with Richard Feilden in 1978. Educated at Cambridge and Yale, he is a Visiting Professor at the University of Bath Schoolof Architecture. He has more than twenty years’ experience in low energy architecture, including the development of passive solar and superinsulated housing under EEC demonstration grants in the 1980s. Peter is actively involved in design, research and education at the forefront of environmental design. In 1998 he was nominated by the RIBA as Designer of the Year for the Prince Philip Awards.Peter was partner in charge on the New Environmental Building for the Building Research Establishment, and current projects include The Earth Centre, Yorkshire ArtSpace, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Stourhead, Painshill Park, and masterplanning a new campus for Falmouth College of Arts. Chris Cowper qualified from Kingston School of Architecture in 1975. He worked for the GLC Department of...