# A Holistic Approach for Design and Assessment of Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Systems
## 2 Methodology  
This research is based on the analysis of a BIPV system installed in the city of Medellin, Colombia [30]. The system sizing was carried out based on the available area in the front part of the building (windows). Based on this information, custom solar panels were designed, assembled, and installed in order to evaluate the profitability of the system. Subsequently, the power interface was selected, which is necessary for its connection to the grid and the loads. It is necessary to clarify that this sizing did not consider some technical aspects, such as incident irradiation and partial shading caused by nearby buildings, nor was an economic analysis carried out that would allow evaluation of the project profitability. In this way, the analysis of the system was carried out through a simulation tool that allows technical and economic evaluation. This analysis is required in the design stage to evaluate the best location of the BIPV system and the adequate area as well as the type of PV technology that best suits the project under analysis, all in order to provide a solution to specific energy demand and to achieve a positive result from an economic perspective. The proposed methodology for analyzing the case study is presented in Figure 1. In the first stage, the case study is evaluated through information such as the type of building, the area available on the facade and on the roof, energy consumption, and the cost of energy, as well as all the technical and economic information of the BIPV assembly. All this information is presented in detail in Section 3.1. Stage 2 requires the use of computational tools for the evaluation of the project. This is a step that should have been carried out in the initial stage of the project, but in the case study it was not carried out, which did not allow for considering the effect of partial shading on the energy production of the proposed BIPV system. To achieve this, the steps proposed in Figure 2 must be followed. Initially, it is necessary to perform an inspection of the selected area to carry out the assembly, type of building, number of floors, and area, among others. Then, the 3D model is generated for which it is necessary to include information on the building envelope that includes walls, windows, and roofs. However, this information is not enough, since the entire nearby area must be included in the 3D design in order to have the most detailed information possible. In this project, all nearby buildings were created and located around the case study. Finally, it must be exported in a CAD format to the simulation tool for the analysis of BIPV systems. Some inputs of the simulation tool include the location of the project and weather profile information for the specified location. In addition, it is required to create or select the photovoltaic modules that will form the BIPV system and connect the system to the grid and loads. The information on the simulation stage is presented in Sections 3.2 and 3.3. The simulation tool allows the evaluation of the return of investment of the project and allows the establishment of the project viability. This analysis is presented in Section 3.4 and  
Figure 1: Methodology of study. Figure 2: Methodology of simulation. shows how the recovery of the investment is made in a time greater than 40 years, a time in which the useful life of the equipment has expired and must be replaced at least once. As mentioned earlier, and in order to present how aspects, such as geographical location, the angle of solar incidence, and the surrounding area, affect the energy production of the project, some modifications are proposed in the initial project, considering a scenario in which the project has not yet been installed which allows making decisions, such as: rotate the geospatial location, fewer nearby elements, or the possibility of modifying the slope of the PV modules so that a large amount of radiation could be received. This information is presented in Section 3.5.