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By Peter Fairley

It’s tough being beautiful

For architects who want to use PV as a visual element, finding the right material for each project can be challenging—especially when government funds or grants require projects to use locally sourced materials. Pelli’s firm originally designed The Solaire with a black stripe of PVs, but had to purchase the panels within 500 miles of Manhattan to qualify for New York State’s green building tax credit. As a result, blue panels were used instead of black ones. (Pelli says he has no regrets: “I think they’re more beautiful, more visually interesting as a material.”) Pugh + Scarpa had to make last-minute adjustments to the design of Colorado Court when PV panel manufacturer BP Solar, a subsidiary of the oil and gas giant, bought out their supplier. Scarpa says they convinced BP Solar to custom-manufacture panels with a clear backing to let the light shine through, but the design still had to accommodate BP’s panel size. Public funds used for the project made it impossible for Scarpa to turn to Japanese or European suppliers, which make a wider range of panel sizes, he says. In theory, as more states and owners in the U.S. adopt PV technology, local manufacturers will offer more choices in the coming years.

Images: Courtesy: Pugh + Scarpa Light and shadow are filtered through PV cells on the facade of a municipal building in Winterthur, Switzerland (below). An array of sparkling blue tiles tops the Toyota Motor Sales building in California (far below). The PV cells for Pugh + Scarpa’s Solar Umbrella (below) will provide form and shading, and meet all its energy needs. Images: Courtesy The Colt Group powerlight (bottom right) Images: Powerlight

Another challenge in making PV installations look right is educating contractors. Scarpa wasn’t fully satisfied with the installation at Colorado Court, noting that the electrical, plumbing, and structural subcontractors—who’d never put in a solar system before—didn’t understand that the panels were part of the visual aesthetic of the building. As a result, he says, the placement of equipment such as electrical conduits and plumbing lines was not carefully considered. Scarpa recommends that architects require detailed engineering drawings of installation locations and procedures as part of the bid package, as well as preconstruction meetings with contractors to review the system and answer questions.

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