Integration of Large Rooftop Photovoltaic Plants in Industrial or Commercial Areas

Abstract

The rapid economic development in Turkey leads to growing additional energy demand, which is planned to be generated by 30 % from renewable energy sources by 2023. While hydro and geothermal energy play a major role to fulfill this target, the Turkish government has acknowledged the important part photovoltaic (PV) can play in this sun-blessed country, by initiating a feed-in tariff.

While in many southern European countries ground mounted installations play an ambivalent role, turning existing roof space into clean energy production plants maintains the integrity of the landscape—an important asset in a country with a large touristic industry. Hence building integrated PV installations (BIPV) are a particular aesthetic solution for a variety of applications in the retail, distribution, and industrial sector. Roofs of buildings from these sectors often present large area of unused space, as conventional PV systems, framed in glass, and tilted are often too heavy with additional wind loads and require an optimum orientation. These roofs present a unique opportunity for flexible PV-laminates as, e.g., provided by UNI-SOLAR^®, which are tolerant concerning orientation, contour, and inclination and can be directly integrated into roofing materials to perfectly match the building’s design.

The paper will analyze the relevance of industrial-scale rooftop photovoltaic plants by presenting examples of realized installations based on UNI-SOLAR’s PV-technology across Europe and Turkey—using the example of the largest thin-film installation, which was realized near Istanbul on the roof of sweets manufacturer Perfetti Van Melle by UNI-SOLAR’s channel partner Centrosolar. The paper will furthermore detail the main features of rooftop electricity generation, and discuss technical and organizational challenges that can be encountered during the development of projects.