BIPV markets 2009 and beyond!

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Building-Integrated Photovoltaics Markets 2009 and Beyond" report to its offering.

This report analyzes and quantifies the current and future markets for BIPV products. These products have traditionally consisted mostly of solar panels designed to lie flush and appear unobtrusive on a structure. However, the BIPV market has changed in the past year or so, with exciting new products that incorporate PV cells into actual building materials like siding, windows, and roofing shingles.

Last year, NanoMarkets produced one of the first reports on BIPV and this year's report builds on our success and experience with this earlier study. This time, our focus is on the next generation BIPV products just mentioned and we set out in this report, just where and when they are likely to be a success.

Innovation, improved materials and to some extent, current market forces are leading to increasing diversity of BIPV products of all material types. With this in mind, the report focuses especially on what NanoMarkets regards as three key segments of the BIPV market:

(1) Flexible PV, which allows custom or even "do it yourself" BIPV products because they are simply applied (often by adhesive) to conventional building materials;
(2) BIPV glass made with c-Si PV modules. This is already being made by several firms using fairly easy glazing technology, to custom specifications of overall size and cell spacing; and
(3) Rigid BIPV tiles are increasingly being made to emulate some kind of conventional, discrete building material unit, such as roofing tiles or slates.

Of course, the arrival of new BIPV products on the market is not the only thing that has changed since last year. With the huge downturn in the economy, the PV market has taken a double hit.

First, the bottom has dropped out of the construction market, so the addressable market for BIPV is significantly smaller than it was a year ago. With this in mind, the report focuses on how BIPV technologies can break into the market now and how planners at BIPV firms can ensure that their products will do well once the new construction market begins to stabilize and how they can also best meet the demands of the retrofit market.

The other problem that all PV products faces is the decline in energy prices, which means that PV in general does not prove in economically to the same degree as in the past. With this in mind, this report discusses how BIPV specific factors notably aesthetics can help the PV industry move forward in a difficult industry.

The earliest adopters of PV devices, often simply mounted panels on rooftops with little or no regard for appearance. The next wave of PV adopters, we believe, will require that the PV system be architecturally integrated into the building structure and look good. There is also a large proportion of potential adopters who do not want any attention favorable or not. Modern BIPV is likely to allow this potential market to install PV systems "incognito."

The report also discusses the materials and technology aspect of BIPV. We look at how traditional crystalline silicon firms PV can best fit their products into the new BIPV environment and how the new TFPV and OPV/DSC technologies with their light weight and flexibility can be leveraged for BIPV applications.

The report also goes into depth on the market, policy and technology factors that make BIPV more popular in some regions versus others. Finally, our eight-year forecasts of the BIPV market quantify the opportunities in BIPV by region and by product type.

Report on China's building integrated photovoltaic industry 2009

DUBLIN, IRELAND: Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Research Report of China's Building Integrated Photovoltaic Industry, 2009" report to its offering.

Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) refers to the installment of PV modules which can supply electric power on surface of external supporting structure. Those PV modules can not only replace part of such traditional structures as roof slab, tile, window, building elevation and rain-proof shelter, but also can be made to own various functions, such as PV/thermal system, combination with illumination and sun shade, etc.

At present, BIPV is widely applied on exposed walls, sun-shading shelters, patios, tiles, roofs, sound-proof walls, as well as in fields of private apartments, schools, hospital buildings, airports, platforms of subway stations and large workshops.

With the changing fields of PV power generation, China has made great progress in research and development of BIPV system. In 2002, 10KW integrated grid system was built in Fengxian, Shanghai, which realized automation. In 2003, an ecological demonstration project was established in Shanghai and the 5KW integrated grid system combined well with construction with international top technologies.

Shanghai Solar Energy S&T Co., Ltd (SSEC) also established integrated demonstrative office building with six first-initiated technologies of directly combining solar electrical power generation and construction. Today, the total installed capacity can reach 40KW and energy self-supply can basically realized with integrating geothermal air condition technologies.

It is said in the 40th article of "Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China" which took effect on April 1st, 2008 that Chinese government encourages to adopt energy-saving materials and devices and to apply renewable energy resource system in the energy conservation reform of newly-built constructions and existing constructions. It is also stated in the 61st article that enterprises which use energy-saving technologies and products listed in the law can enjoy favorable policies, such as tax incentives.

Although a series of laws and standards have been launched, such as "Renewable Energy Law", "Civil Building Energy Saving" and "Energy-Saving Design Standard of Various Regions", high cost (cost of photoelectric curtain wall jumps to over 1,000 USD/m2 today) will be a big barrier for BIPV projects, apart from limited ideas and technologies. Neither enterprises themselves nor government can afford such a high cost in the long run. Therefore, BIPV captures considerably small market now in China and is mainly used in some demonstrative projects which enjoy government subsidies.

It is clearly regulated by Ministry of Construction of China that 50 percent of design standards should be applied in newly-built constructions. It is predicted that the area of energy-saving constructions will exceed 2.16 billion m2 from 2006 to 2010, with newly-built area of 1.6 billion m2 and rebuilt area of 560 million m2.

At present, area of constructions in China reaches 40 billion m2, over 13 billion m2 of which are to be rebuilt. In order to fulfill this goal, enterprises must adopt such energy-saving technologies and devices as solar illumination, integrated system of solar energy and construction (solar tiles and glass curtain wall), etc. Thus the BIPV market will see a bright prospect in future.

Report on China’s BIPV industry 2009

NEW YORK, USA: Reportlinker has added a research report of China’s building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) Industry, 2009.

BIPV refers to the installment of PV modules which can supply electric power on surface of external supporting structure. Those PV modules can not only replace part of such traditional structures as roof slab, tile, window, building elevation and rain-proof shelter, but also can be made to own various functions, such as PV/thermal system, combination with illumination and sun shade, etc.

At present, BIPV is widely applied on exposed walls, sun-shading shelters, patios, tiles, roofs, sound-proof walls, as well as in fields of private apartments, schools, hospital buildings, airports, platforms of subway stations and large workshops.

With the changing fields of PV power generation, China has made great progress in research and development of BIPV system. In 2002, 10KW integrated grid system was built in Fengxian, Shanghai, which realized automation. In 2003, an ecological demonstration project was established in Shanghai and the 5KW integrated grid system combined well with construction with international top technologies.

Shanghai Solar Energy S&T Co. Ltd (SSEC) also established integrated demonstrative office building with six first-initiated technologies of directly combining solar electrical power generation and construction. Today, the total installed capacity can reach 40KW and energy self-supply can basically realized with integrating geothermal air condition technologies.

It is said in the 40th article of “Energy Conservation Law of the People's Republic of China”, which took effect on April 1, 2008 that the Chinese government encourages to adopt energy-saving materials and devices and to apply renewable energy resource system in the energy conservation reform of newly-built constructions and existing constructions.

It is also stated in the 61st article that enterprises which use energy-saving technologies and products listed in the law can enjoy favorable policies, such as tax incentives.

Although a series of laws and standards have been launched, such as “Renewable Energy Law”, “Civil Building Energy Saving” and “Energy-Saving Design Standard of Various Regions”, high cost (cost of photoelectric curtain wall jumps to over 1,000 USD/m2 today) will be a big barrier for BIPV projects, apart from limited ideas and technologies. Neither enterprises themselves nor government can afford such a high cost in the long run. Therefore, BIPV captures considerably small market now in China and is mainly used in some demonstrative projects which enjoy government subsidies.

It is clearly regulated by Ministry of Construction of China that 50 percent of design standards should be applied in newly-built constructions. It is predicted that the area of energy-saving constructions will exceed 2.16 billion m2 from 2006 to 2010, with newly-built area of 1.6 billion m2 and rebuilt area of 560 million m2.

At present, area of constructions in China reaches 40 billion m2, over 13 billion m2 of which are to be rebuilt. In order to fulfill this goal, enterprises must adopt such energy-saving technologies and devices as solar illumination, integrated system of solar energy and construction (solar tiles and glass curtain wall), etc. Thus the BIPV market will see a bright prospect in future.