BUILDING INTEGRATION ASPECTS OF SOLAR THERMAL COLLECTORS AND PHOTOVOLTAICS

Solar thermal collectors and photovoltaics can be widely applied, to cover building energy demand and installed properly can adapt building architecture in harmonic way, improving also thermal insulation and reducing building heating and cooling demand. It is important to integrate solar energy systems of high aesthetics because they are directly visible, as they constitute a large part of the external building surface. The present work gives a figure of the application of solar thermal collectors and photovoltaics to adapt energy demand of buildings. Some innovative solar energy devices are briefly described and aspects regarding aesthetics and performance of them for building integration are discussed. The presented solar energy systems aim to optimise aesthetics, performance and cost with energy saving and solar control of buildings, by replacing conventional energy sources in heating, cooling and electricity therefore contributing to a significant CO2 reduction.