Building solar ventilation

In France, buildings are the first energy consumer with half of the country’s final energy consumption. We sell solutions improving their energy performance while meeting environmental expectations.

Building, the main lever for factor 4

To be effective and succeed in meeting its commitments under the 2004 Climate Plan and the POPE law in 2005 (divide CO2 emissions by 4 by 2020), France is focusing on two main areas:

Massive renovation of existing buildings

The development of stricter standards in terms of energy consumption for new buildings. Several thermal regulations have been introduced since 1974 and the future environmental regulation will come into force on 1 January 2021.

Solutions for whom?

You are an architect, project manager or design office; you are looking to be innovative, to propose a new vision of the building or simply to reach the future levels of requirements of the RE 2020 environmental regulation? Our technology is made for you!

Are you a business owner with a commercial or industrial building or planning to build one? Are you looking to reduce or control your energy bills or simply to implement an CSR activity in order to target a wider clientele? Our technology is for you!

Indoor air quality, a societal issue

We spend more than 80% of our time in enclosed spaces and the air we breathe is not always of good quality. Inside buildings, the air is much more polluted than outside air due to many sources of pollution (building materials, decoration products, human activity, …)

Consequences

The emergence of symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and skin, dizziness as well as allergic manifestations and asthma. In France, the cost of poor air quality is estimated at 19 billion euros per year: a real health and economic issue for our society.

Controlling the quality of air inside buildings means above all renewing the air in an efficient manner, by replacing the indoor air with new, filtered, heated or cooled air. However, ensuring good air renewal means accepting to consume energy; paradoxical, when we know the energy stakes linked to the building sector.

What if the solution was called Cogen’Air®?

Cogen'Air® and air handling unit, the winning combination

By coupling our Cogen’Air® thermovoltaic panels to an air renewal system (central air handling unit, double flow ventilation, air treatment unit, etc.), you optimise its performance while reducing its energy and environmental impact.

Additional heat in winter

The new air, instead of being sucked in directly outside the building, is redirected to the thermovoltaic panels where it is preheated (+5 to +15°C compared to the outside air) via an optimised heat recovery system operated under the panels.
In mid-season, the warm air can even provide part of the building’s heating because of temperatures around 30/35°C. It also reduces the consumption of the pre-heating batteries and thus provides an initial energy saving.

A source of coolness in summer

Through a phenomenon of radiative sky cooling, the air under the thermovoltaic panels can cool down by 3 to 4°C compared to the outside temperature, thus ensuring the production of fresh air which contributes to cooling your building and improving the comfort of users.

Self-consumption or resale of electricity

The electricity can be either self-consumed or sold via a purchase contract. In the case of self-consumption, the electricity produced by the panels helps to compensate for the consumption of the ventilation system’s fans and to reduce part of the energy drawn from the grid.

In addition, the passage of air through the panels allows them to be cooled and tends to increase production by around +10% compared to a conventional photovoltaic installation.

Whether it is a new building or a renovation project, an existing air handling unit or a unit to be replaced, our technology can be adapted to more than 95% of installations without major modifications.

How it works

Two modes of operation are in place depending on the season:

In winter, the air is heated by the Cogen’Air® panels and sent to the air treatment equipment. The hot battery only operates if the air temperature at the panel outlet does not reach the building’s set temperature.

In summer, the air under the panels is used at night to cool the building by 1-2°C. During the day, the air handling unit uses only outside air.

We provide customised calculation notes for your projects. In the case of a specific project or one requiring a particular adaptation, we offer technical support to ensure the compatibility of our technology.

Every project goes through a mandatory commissioning by our in-house teams. We check that our implementation rules are respected and that production targets are met.

Implementation of Cogen'Air® technology

Even if the roof is very often chosen, other locations are possible to provide additional functions to the installation.

Thermovoltaic Shadehouse

Sunshade

Flat roof

Roofing

Your project funding

Our technology is eligible for several grants or subsidies that can help finance part of your investment.

On the electricity side, the energy produced either provides a secure income over 20 years (total sale of the electricity produced via a contract with the Obligation d’Achat Solaire) or a reduction in the electricity bill due to the self-consumed energy not drawn from the grid.

In the case of self-consumption, an investment premium is paid to any self-producer selling his surplus electricity to the grid. This premium is directly related to the installed power. In addition, some local authorities have implemented specific aid schemes to accelerate the energy transition of the territory according to the use of electricity.

On the heat side, thermal production ensures a reduction in the energy bill, thus financing the investment. In addition, regional aid and/or calls for projects can contribute to the investment.

Our teams will provide you with information and guide you through the process. We can also put together a dossier for aid applications to save time in the realisation of your project.

Testimony

When the Commune of Canéjan decided to install self-consuming photovoltaic panels, it was only natural that it turned to the Canéjan company BASE Innovation and its innovative Cogen’Air concept.
The Cogen’Air panels have the advantage of allowing the heat generated by the photovoltaic panels to be recovered while producing electricity with an optimised yield.
In winter, we use this warm air to blow into our air handling unit, thus limiting the heating input. In the summer, this process allows us to lower temperatures by cooling at night.
We are very satisfied with this installation, which produces the planned thermal and electrical energy.