Page 79 - Envision 17

01 SIEW Opening Remarks, Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Chan Chun Sing, shared Singapore’s Energy Story for the next 50 years.
02 Rooftop solar energy systems on top of HDB blocks.
03 The Tropical Technologies (T2) Laboratory at Kent Vale, NUS.
to be a nascent interest in this area. Young entrepreneurs are exploring with edible herb gardens and volunteers are helping to figure out how to engage solar technologies in urban farming. They bring hope that even space-constrained Singaporeans can one day grow their food in the city using solar energy on-site.
Facades
As high-rise buildings continue to creep skywards in Singapore, facades are becoming increasingly important in the search for more deployable areas to harness solar energy. Today, it is possible to replace some conventional materials on the building envelope with innovative, so- called “building-integrated photovoltaic” (BIPV) products, such as transparent solar panels to serve as window replacements, or “building-added photovoltaic” (BAPV) such as coloured solar panels to better blend into the building designs. Locally, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) sees solar energy on facades as an important enabler to support the adoption of “Super Low Energy Buildings”, “Zero Energy Buildings”, and even “Positive Energy Buildings”.
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In an effort to address some of the technical, aesthetic and economic questions surrounding the deployment of BIPV, the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) and the School of Design and Environment (SDE) at NUS set up a testbed as part of the Tropical Technologies (T2) Lab, featuring various BIPV technologies in different configurations. Results from this testbed will better inform architects, designers and building professionals regarding important parameters such as the efficiency of different patterns and colours of BIPV panels or the energy yield generated from a facade installation.
One promising way for incorporating BIPV into new buildings is to deploy it as part of a process known as “Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction” (PPVC). Many modern buildings are constructed via this method, where free- standing modules are completed with internal finishes and fixtures fitted in an off-site facility before being delivered to site. At the site itself, these modules are
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