With an understanding of Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and BIPV technology, innovative thinking and meticulous planning have been applied to the design and simulation of the (AR) educational building BIPV system. Researchers in Saudi Arabia are beginning to explore the potential of BIPV in educational building architecture, considering factors such as building orientation, sunlight exposure, energy demands, and aesthetic integration.
(Fig 8. The educational building consists of four floors with large glass curtain walls.)

The hotel lobby employs sloped solar glass with varying levels of transparency for its roof design, improving natural lighting and ventilation in the deep podium area. The angle between the roof and the horizontal plane is carefully adjusted to balance power generation efficiency and indoor spatial perception. After simulating and comparing various levels of light transmittance, a 40% light transmittance solar glass was selected to achieve the optimal balance between interior transparency and shading requirements, creating a comfortable indoor environment. The skylight glass consists of triple-laminated, two-cavity tempered ultra-clear glass, with solar cells located in the outer laminated glass, effectively absorbing solar radiation and providing thermal insulation to reduce air conditioning load.

The solar facade consists of 1,096 pieces of semi-transparent CdTe thin-film solar glass, each sized 1,200mm x 600mm x 6.8mm, covering a total area of 0.72 square meters. The unique feature of this glass lies in the thin black lines embedded within the double-layer glass interlayer, visible only within a distance of less than two meters. Beyond that distance, only the color of the entire panel is visible. (CdTe thin-film solar panels are available in red, blue, orange, and green.)

According to different application scenarios, usage functions or installation heights, TERLI CdTe solar glass building materials can provide various customized services such as glass thickness, transparency and patterns to meet architectural design requirements. Based on the proprietary CdTe Thin-film Solar Cell Technology's advantages in properties and application scenarios, TERLI has positioned itself in the field of building-integrated photovoltaics. As of now, we have developed eight major categories of CdTe solar building materials products, including curtain walls, roof tiles, bricks and railings, comprising over 50 varieties suitable for different building application scenarios.

Jiaxing Train Station ingeniously transformed the "fifth facade" (rooftop) into an "ecological fifth facade" by using solar glass materials. This not only highlighted the aesthetic function of the roof but also served as a bold exploration and experimentation with clean, green photovoltaic technology on building rooftops. The project exemplifies the "green building concept," setting an essential precedent for the construction and transformation of public buildings, including high-speed railway stations, airports, exhibition centers, and shopping malls.

In this competition, the solar residences of the eight university teams showcased innovative applications of cadmium telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) power generation building materials. Various architectural photovoltaic integrated applications, such as solar glass sunrooms, solar curtain walls, solar glass railings, solar skylights, solar sunshades, solar roof tiles and Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) integrated roofs, were observed in these solar homes. Each team demonstrated profound wisdom by designing solar residences that are both functional and comfortable, presenting a fresh perspective on solar energy technology.

Solar roof tiles are made of cadmium telluride thin film or monocrystalline silicon that either overlay or replace the existing shingles on a roof. They absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity. By relying on this method of energy as opposed to electricity, for example, homeowners will save money on monthly bills and eventually recoup their initial investments.

Turkey is “lagging” in its solar power capacity but could generate 120 GW – 45% of the country’s total electricity needs – through better solar rooftop utilization, said UK environmental think tank Ember in a recently published report. The report, penned by Ufuk Alparslan and Azem Yildirim, shows that $3.6 billion worth of subsidies, which paid for fossil fuel imports from September 2022 to August 2023, could be eliminated through better rooftop PV policies. The report said that “policies that promote the widespread use of rooftop solar power plants” in Turkey, particularly in homes, could “reduce the real cost of electricity in the country by reducing its dependence on imported fossil-fuel resources.”

Solar facades are a great solution, let alone energy generation, it provides plenty advantages: facade insulation, façade and balcony glazing, additional thermal properties, noise reduction (8-12 decibels of reduced traffic noise can be expected from balcony glazing). Solar facade modules can also be integrated to existing building facades, modernizing them and turning them energy efficient.