Electricity from radiation
Surely, high maintenance of the building is connected with the supply for electricity. In this case photovoltaic links, which change solar energy to electricity, can be an interesting solution – claims Krzysztof Gnyra. Photovoltaic installation technically allows one to take care of one’s supply for electricity. The moment sunbeams fall on solar links, the radiation energy unleashes the electric charges from the material (for example, from silicon). From this the energetic potential in the form of voltage is created. Closing of the circuit between two poles of the receiver will make the electricity appear. The smallest element of this system is solar link. Several combined links, protected from the elements, laminate into ‘solar modules’. The combination of many solar modules creates a solar generator equipped with the inverter which cooperates with the grid. Direct current, produced by the installation, is then transformed into alternating current. On the market, one can find offers of so called hybrid photovoltaic links, which produce not only electricity, but also heat used, for example, for heating of water.
Collectors and architecture
One can increase the benefits from environmental friendly heating only when the location’s architecture is planned together with installation techniques. Therefore, there are no ready-made projects for solar collectors in this type of installations. The best thing to do is to decide whether use solars or not on the stage of planning the building’s specific location. When we know how many collectors do we have to use, include them in the building’s architecture, provide enough space for them on the façade or the roof or plan the location of heated water containers or heat accumulation pods together with the installation. Currently used solar collectors allow us to place them almost in every available spot: on the flat roof, on the building’s walls and in other places – suggests Krzysztof Gnyra from Viessmann. They can be a perfect architectural element on any building. The fact that, with the use of collectors it’s possible to create a certain image of the building is also worth pointing out. Modern devices can also be of aesthetic value to the building, underlining its architectural advantages. Those that consider installation of solar collectors on office buildings quite often think about the representational factor. Buildings with these devices are considered modern, which in turn influences the general image of the company (it may be thought of as taking care of the environment) – explains Karol Michałowski from EcoDay.
It’s important to point out that, the more expensive the primary source of heat is, the more profitable the investment in solar collectors will be. More and more office buildings use solars to support their general heating systems.
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