PV windows cut energy use by 40% in glazed buildings, says NREL

US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has shown that perovskite-based thin-film PV, transparent PV, and dynamic PV glazing technologies can reduce the energy use of glazed buildings by around 40% across eight regions in the United States. NREL scientists used weather data inputs from the Typical Meteorological Year database to simulate the energy consumption profiles of buildings in terms of heating, cooling, and lighting in 15-minute intervals over the course of a year. The results showed that “PV glazing with a power conversion efficiency as low as 6% reduces energy use by more than 30%,” according to the researchers. Dynamic PV glazed reaches almost 50% energy savings and “has the highest potential savings amongst PV technologies” . . .