An Energy-Harvesting Facade Optimization System for Built Environments

Abstract

Daylighting is the immediate exploitation of solar energy in the form of nat-
ural lighting and plays an integral role in minimizing the energy footprint
of a building. Smart daylighting enables us to design buildings that provide
comfort and energy savings.

This work proposes a dynamic facade system for buildings which aims to
maximize user comfort while simultaneously maximizing energy savings by
harvesting solar energy optimally. The solar panels on the facade can har-
vest the highest amount of energy when it is positioned perpendicular to the
suns rays. However, this may result in unsatisfactory lighting conditions in-
side the room and the problem is approached as a bi-objective optimization
problem. This work is a preliminary exploration of the concept of smart
skins for buildings that autonomously regulates light while harvesting solar
energy, contributing to the creation of the future of sustainable buildings.
The primary focus of this research work revolves around building a con-
ceptual model, formulating an optimization problem, developing a control
algorithm, iFOS, and then evaluating it. Data was simulated using advanced
simulations to evaluate the dynamics of light indoors.

Two benchmarks were created to evaluate the algorithm against, one where
the system works towards maximizing user comfort indoors, and the other,
where the system works to maximize the energy harvested by the facade.
Upto 8% increase in the energy harvested was achieved with minimal loss in
user comfort in the use case evaluated. The average energy figure for The
Netherlands in the summer months is about 5 kWh/m2/day, which makes
the total energy that can be captured at 20% efficiency to be about 750
kWh per day. The algorithm is found to work the best when the desired
light level to be maintained indoors lies in the range [400,600] lux.