Greentech Lead America: BISEM, the provider of
UL-approved photovoltaic curtain wall systems, has installed building
integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) curtain wall retrofit at the Sacramento
Municipal Utility District’s Customer Service Center. The installation marks
first photovoltaic curtain wall retrofit in the US.
SMUD’s curtain wall will power the swamp coolers of their
technology demonstration area and will serve as a working model for any medium
to large scale commercial building retrofit in the country.
The BIPV Curtain Wall Retrofit’s structurally engineered
connections are mounted without removing the glass or affecting the integrity
of the waterproofing. The installation utilizes forty-nine cadmium telluride
thin-film modules to produce electricity.
The additional power generated will leverage BISEM’s
proprietary multi-trade solution, which includes a monitoring system and
inverters that transform all additional power produced to AC electricity. This
AC power will flow back into the SMUD power grid and be constantly monitored
for performance.
“BISEM’s Curtainwall retrofit provides an opportunity to
take advantage of a south-facing location to generate power from the sun. The
implementation also demonstrates a product that provides a practical template
for the design, construction and energy production industries to incorporate
today,” said Jim Barnett, principal architect at SMUD.