Minimal Impact – Maximum Output: Team MIMO

Part 13 / 15 of the series "Solar architecture at its best – Excellent projects from the Architecture Award Building Integrated Solar Technology 2022 introduced briefly"

SDE 21-22 Team MIMO, Hochschule Düsseldorf (Germany)

The MIMO (Minimal Impact – Maximum Output) team from Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences also designed a rooftop extension to Café Ada in Wuppertal, which is located near the Solar Decathlon competition site. The photovoltaics are used as part of the adaptive climate envelope, which forms a thermal buffer space. A unique feature is that the PV system is installed solely in the glazed surfaces, both in the skylight strips in the roof and in the horizontal louvres used in the façade.

The arrangement of the monocrystalline cells varies with different cell densities. Although based on changing the joint size and omitting individual cells, the module design is “parametrically” tuned for energy yield, daylight utilisation and solar shading.

The photovoltaics in the “intelligent façade” can also be perceived in the interior and complement the atmospheric ambience with timber, cork and brick surfaces.

The project received an honorary mention by the jury in the „Student’s Award“ section of the “Architecture Award Building-Integrated Solar Technology 2022“.

Project partners
Architect: Hochschule Düsseldorf

Get an Overview of the series "Solar architecture at its best – Excellent projects from the Architecture Award Building Integrated Solar Technology 2022 introduced briefly“

About the Architecture Award Building Integrated Solar Technology

The “Architecture Award Building-Integrated Solar Technology“ was started in the year 2000 by the Solarenergieförderverein Bayern (Bavarian Association for the Promotion of Solar Energy) and held since then for the 9th time. The award is established as an international competition concerning the interface between architecture and solar energy. The prize honors exemplary contributions of planning and designing building-integrated solar systems.

In the last edition of the competition the jury singled out 15 projects from 121 entries, which we want to present in a series. The jury was unanimous in its positive assessment that even with very different building tasks, and in different environments, these projects show that photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors can be successfully integrated with equal ambition in terms of design and technology.

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