Experimental analysis of the influence of colored glazing on the spectral mismatch factor of monocrystalline PV cells for BIPV applications

¹ Thermal Process Laboratory, Research and Technology Centre of Energy, Bordj-Cedria, Tunisia.
² Laboratory of Physics of Materials and Nanomaterials, Faculty of Sciences, (UnivGb), Gabes, Tunisia

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Colored glazing in building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is often treated as a simple transmission loss, although it also modifies the incident spectrum and can affect photovoltaic response. This study experimentally investigates the influence of 2 mm colored glazing (transparent, brown, green, and blue) on the spectral mismatch factor (SMF) and outdoor short-circuit current of monocrystalline silicon PV cells. Glazing transmittance (300-1100 nm) was measured by UV-VIS spectrophotometry and used to calculate SMF according to IEC 60904-7. Outdoor tests were then performed under real conditions in Gabes (Tunisia) using identical mono-Si cells measured simultaneously. The calculated SMF values remained close to unity (within about ±3%), with blue glazing slightly above 1 and brown/green slightly below 1. Outdoor measurements showed the same current ranking, and the difference between predicted and measured relative current variations was typically below 3%. These results validate a practical spectral-aware workflow for fair comparison of colored glazing options in mono-Si BIPV applications.