Applied Energy

As interest in the distributed generation of solar power system in a building fa c,ade continues to increase,its technical performance(i.e.the amount of electricity generation)should be carefully investigated before its implementation.In this regard,this study aimed to develop the nine-node-based finite element model for estimating the technical performance of the distributed generation of solar power system in a building fa c,ade(FEM9-node),focusing on the improvement of the prediction performance.The developed model(FEM9-node)was proven to be superior to the four-node-based model(FEM4-node),which was developed in the previous study,in terms of both prediction accuracy and standard deviation.In other words,the prediction accuracy(3.55%)and standard deviation(2.93%)of the developed model(FEM9-node)was determined to be superior to those of the previous model(FEM4-node)(i.e.4.54%and 4.39%,respectively).The practical application was carried out to enable a decision maker(e.g.construction manager,facility manager)to understand how the developed model works in a clear way.It is expected that the developed model(FEM9-node)can be used in the early design phase in an easy way within a short time.In addition,it could be extended to any other countries in a global environment.