University architecture professor and Oregon Built Environment and Sustainable Technologies Center researcher Ihab Elzeyadi designed a prototype solar photovoltaic (PV) window awning, making a contribution to sustainable development.
Elzeyadi, who has been at the University since 2001, is interested in improving the current prototype. He is applying for more funding to make the PV panels track the sun as it moves across the sky.
He would also like to build window awnings of all sizes. The current prototype at the Onyx building is built to conventional window size.
The awning has multiple functions. It saves, generates and transmits energy. The awning’s PV cell transfers solar energy into electricity. The top part of the awning is a reflector that bounces light off its surface to keep heat away from the window. The bottom part of the awning protects it from overheating.
The awning prototype can be found at the Onyx Bridge building on campus, where it was originally installed in the summer of 2008 on a glass-walled corridor to be used as a learning tool and research experiment. An interior light shelf was added to the prototype in the summer of 2009. LED light fixtures were added to the prototype a couple months ago.
“So far, it’s meeting and exceeding expectations,” Elzeyadi said.
University architecture and allied arts students helped Elzeyadi test and edit the awning design in the Baker Lighting Lab at the Department of Architecture, ranked number one in sustainable design by Design Intelligence Magazine.
Elzeyadi collaborated with Frank Vignola, director of the University’s Solar Radiation Monitoring Lab, to get funding for the project from the Oregon University System. They worked with the Eugene company Image King Signs to manufacture and install the awning.
“I’m receiving inquiries now. People are interested in helping with prototypes,” Elzeyadi said. He would like to turn the prototype into a marketable product, easy to transport and ship. “My goal is, I would like to see it as a product that would be easy to retrofit buildings with.”
The awning can work on the facades of both new and existing buildings.
The project is “combining renewable energy generation with energy conservation, which will contribute to our overall goal of carbon neutrality,” according to the solar awning project Web site.
The solar awning project is an example of how an innovative idea can get developed and accomplished with collaboration, Elzeyadi said.
“This project has appeal because you can see how innovations get nourished and taken on and produced for society,” he said. “It’s a good thing. It’s not research that stays in the lab.”
He has other research ideas that he is working on with his team at the AAA High Performance Environments Lab. His recent green classroom project involves looking at and evaluating green schools to see how they impact students and communities, and how current green schools can be improved.
“I appreciate the shade. I think about how we can shade buildings,” the Cairo, Egypt native said. “We can reduce the solar impact on buildings and impact people’s comfort.”
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