From Solar Energy to Electricity: A Growing BIPV Market with Great Potential

The Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) market is a growing sector in the environmental search for continued energy-saving building materials. Already a segment of the expanding Photovoltaics (PV) market, BIPV is becoming a popular way to use solar energy to generate electricity. In 2007 the PV market raked in approximately EUR 6.24 billion, with a growth rate of 46%. As a part of that growing market, in 2007 BIPV brought in EUR 149 million with a market growth rate of 33%. With public awareness and concern shifting to applying greener methods for generating energy, BIPV holds great potential as a key player in the future.
Building Integrated Photovoltaics refers to the photovoltaic (PV) materials that structurally serve as building exteriors, such as roof, facade, or skylight. These materials are used for on-grid application rather than off-grid microgeneration. Through the use of the photovoltaic modules, solar energy is captured and then used to generate electricity. There is also a potential for generating heat from BIPV through the use of transparent modules, but this has not been sufficiently explored. A BIPV system can be installed during the actual building phase of construction, as well as retrofitted for a later date. Modern examples of the use of BIPV in aesthetically pleasing landmarks are the OpTIC project in Wales as well as the Stillwell Avenue Station in New York.

The major challenge with BIPV technology is affordability. With the help of EU subsidies and tax incentives, the prices are falling, but it is still an expensive system. There are other challenges beyond the costs of BIPV. Frost & Sullivan analyst, Akhil Sivanandan, of the Building Technologies Group states, “Market participants across Europe will now have to find ways to handle what many consider to be the two main challenges facing the BIPV market right now: the aesthetics of BIPV and the financing and ownership of the system.”

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