Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISEWe support our customers in the technical, legal, economic and design evaluation of products for the building envelope. We offer know-how and expertise in the field of "glass as a structural material", in dealing with aspects of building regulations for PV systems and in design support through simulation. We also have many years of experience concerning research and development in the field of "optics in construction". This ranges from special measurement techniques to the development and use of simulation tools. In our accredited TestLab Solar Façades, we characterize the optical and thermal properties of façade materials and components.
Wafer.
Evaluation of Products for the Building Envelope
Experimental support for technical issues – in line with standards and beyond.
© Fraunhofer ISE
Component Evaluation
for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), HVAC integration and solar shading
Our R&D-Services on the Topic "Component Evaluation" Include:
Optical and Thermal Measurement, Modeling and Evaluation
Mounting a glass sample on a photogoniometer for angle-dependent optical measurements.
In our TestLab Solar Façades, we carry out optical and thermal measurements of transparent, translucent and opaque materials as well as façade components. We evaluate the energy, thermal and optical properties of individual components through to complete façade systems. With our expertise, we support manufacturers, building planners, architects and construction managers in the optimization of building envelopes and the development of new façade components.
Evaluation of the Glare Potential of Products
Pab-pgll Goniophotometer at Fraunhofer ISE.
Our expertise and the equipment in our optical laboratory enable us to make a well-founded assessment of the glare potential of façade technologies based on their reflection and transmission behavior and surface topography. These assessments can serve as a basis for the development of new technologies to reduce glare, for example, structured PV cover glasses or anti-reflective coatings (ARCs).
In addition, our goniophotometer PGII from pab can measure high-resolution bidirectional scattering distribution functions (BSDFs), which can be used in a suitable format for photometric ray tracing simulations to visualize, evaluate or compare glare situations.
Integration of Product Databases
Overview of the product data network buildingenvelopedata.org. The software applications of planners access product data servers directly via programming interfaces (API).
Planners often have to spend a lot of time searching for product data for relevant products. The product data has to fulfill a wide range of requirements in terms of how it is created, the level of detail and the format. In some cases, values have to be entered manually. The processes are therefore complicated and prone to error. For this reason, product data servers have been equipped with an application programming interface (API) so that planning software can use the product data automatically.
We offer component manufacturers and their associations support in integrating their product data, with examples that can be implemented very easily.
We advise software companies on how to use the programming interface. This makes it easy to integrate the product data network into existing software.
Planning offices with programming experience can also use the programming interface themselves, with our support if required.