Glare Hazard Analysis of Novel BIPV Module Technologies

Standard Photovoltaic (PV) modules use anti-reflective (AR) surfaces or coating to maximise solar energy transmission and minimise reflection (Hartmeyer, 2019). Despite this, they can still create glare hazards. New PV modules have been developed for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) to lessen the possibility of glare hazards. In this paper, an outdoor measurement technique for evaluating glare hazards of PV modules is introduced. Eight different PV module glass technologies and coating technologies are tested and compared. The results show that by reducing specular reflection and increasing beam spread, the relevant measure of glare (luminance) can fall by several orders of magnitude without reducing the performance of the PV modules.