Publications by Alejandro Borja Block

Advanced Manufacturing and Characterization of Building-Integrated Photovoltaic Modules

Photovoltaic (PV) technology is necessary for global decarbonization. However, one of the challenges of the technology is that its land use may conflict with other space demands. Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) is a solution to efficiently use the ...

EPFL2024

Colouring solutions for building integrated photovoltaic modules: A review

Christophe Ballif, Aïcha Hessler-Wyser, Antonin Faes, Umang Bhupatrai Desai, Alejandro Borja Block

The conflict between PV installations and other land uses, such as forestry or agriculture, highlights the urgency for alternative solutions. Integrating PV technology into the built environment is a compelling strategy to mitigate these challenges, enabli ...

2024

Accurate color characterization of solar photovoltaic modules for building integration

Christophe Ballif, Antonin Faes, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Jordi Escarre Palou, Alejandro Borja Block

Accurate and reproducible color characterization is essential for colored building integrated photovoltaic products, both for manufacturing quality control and assessing long-term color stability. However, existing characterization techniques struggle to a ...

Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd2023

The carbon intensity of integrated photovoltaics

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Nicolas Würsch, Alejandro Borja Block

To assess the meaningfulness of installing solar photovoltaics in buildings and infrastructures, we consider a carbon intensity (CI) balance perspective and assess whether installing PV at different orientations acts as a net CO2 sink or source, when compa ...

2023

Stability of black interconnect coatings for solar photovoltaic module applications

Christophe Ballif, Antonin Faes, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Martin Ledinsky, Alejandro Borja Block

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) are dual purpose, providing both energy and building functions. Aesthetics play a crucial role in the BIPV market, with increasing demand for uniformly colored modules for building skins. Achieving this requires hid ...

2023

Stability of inks used for masking metallic interconnects in BIPV modules

Christophe Ballif, Alessandro Francesco Aldo Virtuani, Alejandro Borja Block

The necessity to reduce carbon emissions has pushed European institutions to foster the adoption - for new buildings - of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings, which need to minimize energy consumption with energy generated on site. This opens up an enormous poten ...

2021