Abstract
Today building facades are challenged to respond to different needs. Together with passive protection against the weathering agent, the façade can become an active element, producing on-site renewable energy thanks to the integration of photovoltaic (PV) and/or thermal solar systems. This, in turn, can be one of the enabling technologies for the achievement of zero-energy or zero-carbon building targets.
The use of solar technologies as part of the building envelope is becoming more known, but it has not yet become mainstream. Widespread deployment is indeed needed if we want to achieve the renewable energy targets defined by different countries. Despite the recognized potential and the extensive discussion surrounding building-integrated PVs, why is this technology still not widely exploited? What are the main challenges that solar facades still face? And what are the possible disruptive innovations that will overcome current barriers?
This chapter will present the main innovative trends in its technological evolution by tracing the perspectives for the near future in using PV technologies for both opaque and transparent surfaces, to answer the main challenges the solar façade industry is facing today.
The discussion is based on the experiences and results acquired by the authors within various international and European research projects or networks, such as International Energy Agency Tasks.