EV Garage in Sweden Gets Colorful Aerated Facade Made of PV Panels

The Stockholm-based solar energy expert ‘Soltech Energy’ has completed yet another impressive project, building a facade in a garage in Sweden which hosts 300 EV charging points. The facade consists of 1,096 photovoltaic (PV) panels which are colorful and make up for a decorative result close to the style of Viola Gråsten. The installation of the panels follows an oblique pattern of alternating tilt angles, and they are fixed on a prefabricated steel structure so that they form large gaps between them for adequate aeration.

The modules themselves need to be transparent in order to let light in for the interior space of the garage to be shed in natural daylight, and the client chose a transparency of 40%. The total nominal energy output of the facade in ideal conditions can reach up to 646.6 kW. The panels were supplied by the Chinese manufacturer, ‘Advanced Solar Power’ (ASP), and they weigh 11.8 kg each, covering a surface of 0.72 m². ASP uses a thin firm of cadmium telluride for the particular panels, and can make them available in red, blue, orange, and green, anticipating architectural deployments of this kind.

Soltech Energy comments that this facade is actually a proof of concept of what can be achieved with modern PV panels today. Spaces like garages need open facades to let exhaust fumes out, but also to keep the temperatures in check. However, there’s nothing stopping from building décor facades made of colorful PV panels and then using a closed facade behind them. The free energy gains for any building would be significant and the maintenance needs negligible, making the investment very lucrative.

The company has carried out various reference projects that span across residential, industrial, commercial, and public space applications, as lowering the electricity consumption and becoming more self-sufficient are common denominators everywhere. As such, they hope that their colorful facade will serve as the perfect example of what leading-edge PV systems look like today, sparking the interest of more companies in the country.