Experimental Evaluation of a Building Integrated Photovoltaic System for Peak Load Reduction Potential

In this paper, the effect of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) system on the building energy demand from the grid is investigated. The main load of the building is due to the Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) equipment, and its load is highly correlated with the ambient temperature. Similarly, the BIPV system output is also dependent on the ambient conditions, and increases with higher solar irradiation but tends to reduce as temperatures decrease when all other factors are constant. BIPV systems, thus, have the potential to help building owners and operators, both from energy production and load reduction/shifting aspects. In this paper, we utilize a 12-month operational data from the BIPV system at Yasar University, and assess its performance from energy generation and demand reduction perspectives.