Evaluating economic and environmental aspects of using solar panels on multi-angled facades of office buildings

This paper is concerned with using solar panels as high-tech cladding materials on multi-angled facades for office buildings. The energy produced by the solar panels will be consumed inside the office rooms by cooling compressors, ventilation, lighting and office equipment. Each multi-angled facade unit is directed into two different orientations on a vertical axis (right and left), but not tilted up and down. The different facade orientations will optimize the use of solar radiation to produce the needed energy from the solar panels when placing them on the parapets of these facades. In this regard, four scenarios with different facade configurations and orientations are evaluated and discussed. The method for the simulations and calculations depends on two main programs: first, IDA ICE program to calculate the energy consumption and evaluate the indoor climate of the building; and second, PVBAT to calculate the cost of the electricity produced by the solar panels and evaluate the total amount of energy produced from these panels along with the ratio to the energy bought directly from the electricity grid. There is also an environmental evaluation for the system by calculating the CO2 emissions in the different scenarios.