OptiBIPV

What & Why ?

OptiBIPV is an app designed to enhance an integrated design approach for photovoltaic facades right from the early design stages.

In today’s building design, balancing aesthetics with the growing demand for energy production is more important than ever. OptiBIPV enhances collaboration for a more sustainable environment, helping architects, facade designers, and energy experts test any building massings in its context and climate to determine the most efficient PV placement, taking into account the requirements of energy production and the efficiency of the selected photovoltaic system.

Inputs

1. Upload your building massing and its surrounding context.
2. Select your location.
3. Input your energy production goal.
4. Insert the photovoltaic system efficiency, whether it is an architectural or a more traditional photovoltaic system.
5. Set the panel dimensions: height and width, adjustable by exposure.
6. Run the solar analysis and hit compute!

Outputs

Graphic – The app analyzes solar exposure and shading to generate an optimized panel layout and shows it on your 3D building in green.

Metadata – You will find this information in the panel on the right.
They include:

• The number of photovoltaic panels needed (based on the size you set as input)
• The expected annual energy production per year ( kWh )
• The overall energy production per square meter ( kWh/m² )
• The required photovoltaic surface area ( m² )
• The photovoltaic coverage percentage on the building envelope (%)

Experience

Once the panel layout is generated, you can move around the building and visualize how panels are positioned on your building envelope and their most efficient layout.
The metadata helps test your massing, find the best exposure based on graphic results and data, and optimize the shape of your massing for photovoltaic energy production. These insights help refine your active architectural building envelope, reaching the energy production target while maximizing efficiency and minimizing photovoltaic surface area and product usage.

You can test OptiBIPV App at the following link https://datamgmt25.iaac.net!