Category: architectural

press

Solar Fabric Canopies

Posted on | by Julia Fowler

Flexible solar panels integrated into fabric are giving tenants a new outdoor amenity that generates its own power. Here’s how you can create next-generation amenity spaces with this new solar technology.

Buildings | Janelle Penny

A new solar technology combines flexible solar panels with fabric to create a canopy that generates electricity.

Solar fabric architecture, the result of combining fabric and solar cells, can be used to create canopies and other shaded gathering places where building occupants can relax while they recharge their devices.

“It’s a pretty basic concept – it’s a surface that’s getting hit by the sun all day and previously wasn’t creating electricity. Now it is,” explains Colin Touhey, CEO of Pvilion, a solar fabric manufacturer. “We’re taking areas that get hit by the sun, providing shading and putting solar cells on them to serve a multi-purpose.”

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(Photo: Solar sails are an easy way to create an outdoor sitting area for charging devices, eating lunch, or having outdoor meetings with colleagues. Credit: Pvillion)

How Solar Fabric Works

A solar fabric installation starts with an idea. Facilities professionals who know they want an outdoor hangout space with flexible solar panels will work with manufacturers like Pvilion to customize the project to the conditions on the site. This will account for:

  • Where the site gets the most sun
  • Local code, including wind load requirements
  • How to engineer the structure so that the fabric won’t flap around in a storm

Once the project is designed, thin film solar panels are laminated to sturdy fabric that can handle outdoor conditions. The fabric is then mounted on a frame, pole or other structure. The solar-powered space can be grid-tied or grid-independent and typically generate 10-15W per square foot of panel, Touhey adds. Many structures can be erected in a few hours or less – most of the work is done ahead of time, with just structure-building and basic wiring required on-site.

“We just did a few installations in parks in Atlanta that are basically benches under a beautiful arching canopy that provides shade in the summer and rain protection, and there are USB ports and AC outlets there for you to charge your phone or work on your laptop,” Touhey says. “Outdoor canopies are a hot topic right now. At Google’s headquarters, we did some outdoor juice bars – a café juice bar but in an indoor-outdoor space where you’re protecting it, making it waterproof and providing shading.”

The solar fabric is also ideal for open parking lots that are exposed to the elements all day. Carports can use the flexible fabric or a more rigid panel solution to offset the electrical demand of parking lot lighting or charge electric vehicles.

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(Photo: Capital Cascades Park in Tallahassee, FL, features a solar-powered pedestrian bridge that uses flexible solar fabric. The panels on the fabric power the park’s lighting. Credit: Pvillion)

What to Know About Solar Fabric Architecture

This application of flexible solar panels may be new, but the maintenance is the same as it’s always been. A simple semi-annual cleaning with soap and water will make sure the panels can harvest the maximum amount of energy from the sun. A good rule of thumb is to clean the panels whenever you need to clean the fabric.

“If the white is getting dirty, the panels are as well. They’re just not as visible,” says Touhey. “But the panels are still going to work – you just want them to look nice.”

Solar fabric installations often qualify for investment tax credits, adds Touhey, so any financial discussion around investing in this new solar technology should take incentives into consideration. Pvilion’s clients are typically already interested in adding a solar-powered amenity, but the federal incentives make it easier to justify the upfront cost.

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(Photo: Solar fabric creates a shady spot for cars. The energy it harvests from the sun can power parking lot lighting or even partially charge the cars parked under it. Credit: Pvillion)

“If you’re looking to put a $10,000 architectural trellis on your rooftop, you’re going to write a check for $10,000 to your contractor. If you add a $12,000 solar trellis to your rooftop, you’re immediately eligible for the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit, accelerated depreciation and any state and local incentives,” explains Touhey. “Just by adding a little bit of solar, you’re reducing the installation cost. You’re making the thing you were already going to spend money on cheaper.”

Tenant amenities are rapidly becoming sought-after ways to attract new tenants and retain existing ones. Extras like powered outdoor workspaces and device-charging relaxation stations could be the thing that sets your facility apart from the competition. Investigate this new solar technology and see if a canopy laminated with solar cells is the right investment for you.

To read the full original article, click here.

press

Enjoying Super Shade

Posted on | by Julia Fowler

January – February 2022 // VOL 20 NO 1

CHALLENGE

Visitors to the New York Botanical Garden needed a place where they could seek shade, enjoy a beverage, and charge their mobile devices. To solve the garden’s need for accessible, sheltered outdoor seating, the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) and the Botanical Garden turned to Pvilion and their solar-powered shade canopies.

SOLUTION

Pvilion was recently recognized for sustainable efforts by The Architecture MasterPrize for outstanding outdoor, sustainable, and overall product design. One of the company’s products – the Quad Pole Solar Sail – was installed in the Botanical Garden. This solution combines a fabric integrated with photovoltaic cells and a powder-coated steel frame. When erected in an area that receives sunlight, the solar sail can offer energy independent from the local electrical power grid. The structures also come with the option to tie into the local grid, either as a consumer or producer of electricity.

According to the manufacturer, “Eight solar canopies were designed, engineered and installed by Pvilion at the New York Botanical Garden, providing ample space to relax while staying socially distanced. As part of New York City’s emission reduction efforts, seven of the canopies contribute energy directly to the city’s power grid. One structure powers a bank of batteries used by the Garden and its visitors to charge their mobile phones and other devices.”

With the recent need to shift activity outside, Pvilion’s technology has become a necessary, quick, and reliable energy-efficient solution for shelter and energy. The structures in the Botanical Garden were erected by a handful of workers and operational within a matter of hours.

“The climate crisis is real and it is urgent, and that is why the City of New York is taking action to reduce carbon emissions and build a more sustainable future,” said Lisette Camilo, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services. It is only fitting that the New York Botanical Garden, a place known for its greenery, will be leading the way with green energy technologies.

NEEDS MET

Pvilion’s solar power canopy structures meet both short and long-term needs while avoiding the costs, environmental damage, and time associated with erecting and running permanent structures.

To view the full digital edition, click here.

custom

London Embassy Solar Facade

Posted on | by mceveritt

Pvilion is working with Kieran Timberlake, BLHI, Permasteelisa, and Birdair to make a design dream come alive. The creation, a solar powered facade membrane, will help the new US Embassy in London be a fully self sustaining, LEED Platinum achievement. 

Originally designed as close to 700 EFTE membrane structures acting as passive shading and PV energy production, these units will makeup the entire east, west, and south facades. Pvilion is now becoming one step closer to covering the world with fabric that produces its own electricity and beautifies its surroundings.

This project is still in the design/mockup phase, and will be finished by late 2015. For more information, please click here.

public safety

The Carol Roberts Field House Canopy at Yale University

Posted on | by mceveritt

The Carol Roberts Field House, design by KG&D Architects, is the locker room, training room, coach’s office, meeting space and observation deck for the women’s field hockey and softball teams. Pvilion provided design assist services to KG&D Architects for the Canopy and was the Contractor for the fabrication and installation of the Canopy.

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2014 Solar Decathlon – Techstyle Haus

Posted on | by mceveritt

Pvilion was a Terrawatt Sponsor for this Solar Decathlon project, acting as a design consultant and visiting critic to the team of RISD, Brown University and Erfurt University faculty and students. The Techstyle Haus is the worlds first fabric Passivhaus – the 5kW solar array produces more energy than the home will use.  

Pvilion designed, fabricated and installed the photovoltaic membrane. 

events

Carnegie Hall Gala Tent

Posted on | by mceveritt

Imagine erecting a 5,000 square foot, elegant, and grand building for events in just a few hours. Using Pvilion’s high pressure air beam technology and design, this event product is the first of its kind, combining architectural design and high tech fabric work.

The Gala Event Structure has already hit the market in 2014, and will be sure to turn heads in the temporary event space. Set it up on a rooftop, in a field, or anywhere you can imagine, and this Gala Event Structure will blow your mind.

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Solar Facade Module for Artists for Humanity

Posted on | by mceveritt

We engineered, fabricated, and will install a solar wrapper for the Artists for Humanity Epicenter in Boston, Massachusetts.

Our solar trellis wrapper will enhance the aesthetic of the building as well as harvest solar energy to power it.

Artists for Humanity (AFH) is a non-profit youth center for art, science, and enterprise. AFH’s mission is to bridge socio-economic divisions by employing talented and bright underserved high schoolers to provide creative and technical services to local businesses.

The wrapper is just one project in the Epicenter’s 52,000 square feet expansion, which will also make it the largest energy positive commercial facility on the East coast.

custom

Interior Solar Curtains

Posted on | by mceveritt

Wow. Pvilion’s Interior Solar Curtains will produce enough electricity, on this mostly-glass high rise, for the lighting in the building. When you’re gone, close the curtains, and the sun does the rest of the work. 

Blackout curtains, pleated curtains, drapery curtains, you name it. We can do it. Over 100,000 square feet of solar fabric is being produced for this one building alone. Nothing compares to Pvilion’s Solar Curtains, and the design aesthetic coupled with the computer-controlled drape system makes this the highest tech motorized curtain system in the world.

custom

Pvilion x CL Talon Solar Facades

Posted on | by mceveritt

Solar Powered Cladding

Pvilion is proud to launch its first collaboration with CL Talon: a robust, lightweight, and easy to install solar facade system. Built using integrated solar cells and thermally isolated support system, the Pvilion x CL Talon facade system produces more energy on a vertical facade than many buildings can generate on their rooftops. 

Solar Facades

Pvilion’s solar facades serve multiple purposes. They reduce solar heat gain, reduce heating loads, and increase a building’s energy production capability. Using a patent-pending lamination and connection system, the Pvilion Solar Facade can generate up to 20 watts per square foot of surface area. For a typical vertical face, Pvilion Technology can produce 30+ kW per floor.