(Photo: A residential solar project in Anchorage, Alaska, by Arctic Solar Ventures. Credit: Dennis Schroeder/NREL)The building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market is experiencing growth, according to a new report from Research and Markets. Although the deployment of these integrated systems is still low compared with rack-mounted PV systems, analysts say there is increasing stakeholder interest in them worldwide.
Research and Markets reports that there have been strong efforts over the past 20 years to accelerate the deployment of solar-electric systems by developing photovoltaic products that are fully integrated with building materials.
“As a result, global BIPV market reached annual installation of 1 GW in the past few years and its adoption is expected to be driven in part by net zero energy building (NZEB) regulations,” the research firm says.
In the United States, the California Public Utilities Commission set several NZEB goals that are contributing to growth, the report notes. They include net zero energy building goals and building retrofit requirements.
Public initiatives promoting BIPV technology as a cost-effective solution for smart buildings have been the main market driver recently, according to Research and Markets.
The European Industrial Initiative proposes a program for the development and demonstration of BIPV, the analysts say. “The industry is investing in developing BIPV modules which are multifunctional, self-cleaning, and serve as a construction element.”
Over the past 10 years, polycrystalline silicon wafer-based technology has been dominating the solar market, the researchers noted. However, the report says that manufacturers are reducing the price for producing mono-crystalline by switching to diamond wafer technology, which has a lower processing cost. This might make make mono-crystalline technology more competitive in the future, they conclude.
Companies mentioned in the report as major players are BIPV Limited, Merck KGaA, Nanoflex Power, Onyx Solar Group, Polysolar, ISSOL, Construct PV, Changzhou Almaden, AGC Solar, and NanoPV Solar.
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