Performance of curved organic photovoltaics modules for membranes integration: solar simulation tests

Abstract

Photovoltaic (PV) solar technology is considered among the best product renewable energy sources for building applications. Flexible thin-film technology has potentials not only for traditional architectures, but also the most innovative applications that favor envelopes characterized by free morphologies such as membrane structures. Integrating flexible solar modules in pre-tensioned membrane structures allows for wide design varieties of shapes and geometries. However, the fact that curved and inclined PV modules whose orientation is guided by the membrane roof surface receive inhomogeneous radiation intensities across the module makes it necessary to measure the I-V characteristics in a testing environment to calculate the overall modules performance. This paper will be dedicated to investigating the yield of Organic Photovoltaics Modules and how the integration of organic flexible PV module onto a curved membrane surface has an impact on the PV module’s output in a solar simulation test environment.