The Italian ceramic tile industry is working to integrate photovoltaic technology into ceramic tiles in order to develop a cladding material that will be capable of reducing the energy consumption of buildings and optimising the exchange of heat between the interior and exterior.
The first prototypes have shown promising results for use in the most innovative green building projects.
Non-transparent sections of the building envelope such as walls and roofs account for up to 80% of the total heat exchange of buildings.
The aim of photovoltaic tiles is to optimise the energy efficiency of buildings by exploiting surfaces exposed to sunlight. Through interventions of this kind it is possible to reduce heat loss in winter and control solar gain in summer.
In recent years, the Italian ceramic tile industry has been working to integrate photovoltaic (PV) devices into tiles so as to meet aesthetic and energy needs while facilitating access to renewable energy.
The researchers’ goal is to gradually functionalise tiles, in other words to introduce new functions in addition to their traditional characteristics. These new functions may include thermal insulation, self-cleaning, and energy collection and transformation.
For the development of tiles coated with PV material, research efforts have focused on several different goals:
In BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) installations, solar panels are integrated into roofs and façades and perform a variety of functions including electricity generation and thermal insulation. This is currently one of the fastest growing segments of the construction industry.
The CECERBENCH laboratory at Centro Ceramico Italiano specialises in the development of ceramic tiles with functional surfaces. Its research activities have shown that it is possible to create cladding materials that produce electricity by means of photovoltaic inserts.
For this purpose the researchers studied various materials, on which they replaced the glaze layer with solar cells.
The PV tile prototype that was developed is 10×10 centimetres in size and consists of a series of four photovoltaic cells connected in such a way as to recreate a device similar to a solar panel.
The resulting tiles are mounted on aluminium structures and connected by simple electrical sockets.
Initial tests involved assembling 9 of these prototypes (organised in 3 rows of 3 tiles each) and mounting the resultant module on an exterior wall exposed to sunlight, leaving an air gap of about 10 centimetres so as to simulate a ventilated façade.
Each individual PV tile consists of:
For this prototype, a PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) application called “Ceramic tile with surface functionalized with photovoltaic cells” was filed.
By using these prototypes, it was possible to determine how these types of tiles affect heat exchange between the interior and exterior spaces.
Initial results showed that parameters such as PV cell temperature, ambient temperature and solar illumination are linearly correlated and that the photovoltaic tiles are able to maintain homogeneous thermal behaviour.
The Italian ceramic industry’s experience in tile manufacturing coupled with cutting-edge research in the field of renewables has resulted in an innovative product that represents a further step towards more sustainable construction.
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