The market for coloured photovoltaic modules offers a key opportunity for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), as it enables more aesthetic and seamless integration into architecture. This study investigates how three common BIPV colours—anthracite, green, and terracotta—affect the performance of a BIPV ventilated façade. It presents a year-long field comparison, including thermal modelling and residual spectral loss estimation, of three screen-printed coloured BIPV strings installed on an east-facing ventilated façade, at the CIEMAT research centre in Madrid, Spain. Although anthracite modules exhibit the highest efficiency under standard test conditions (STC), green modules achieve the best performance ratio (PR) due to their lower spectral and thermal impacts. Results indicate that system design factors—such as façade orientation, module positioning and rear ventilation—significantly influence thermal and electrical performance. In particular, changes in solar spectral irradiance can have a strong impact on the performance of coloured modules, mainly due to their distinct spectral reflectance characteristics. This effect is especially relevant for reddish modules mounted on east- and west-facing façades, which, on clear days, receive sunlight with spectra shifted toward the near-infrared (NIR) region compared with midday conditions, which are closer to the standard AM1.5G solar spectrum. Prior optical characterisation, particularly spectral reflectance measurements, is therefore essential to accurately assess and predict the performance of coloured modules under real operating conditions.
Martín-Chivelet et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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