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• NEW: Press release on the comprehensive IEA PVPS Task 7 database on projects and products at www.pvdatabase.com
• NEW: Paper on IEA PVPS Task 7 presented at the 17th EU PVSEC conference
  by operating agent Tony Schoen et al.
• Background article about IEA PVPS Task 7 by operating agent Tony Schoen
• Information brochure aboubt IEA PVPS Task 7: brochure.zip (~2Mb)
• IEA PVPS Task 7 National Contact Persons
• IEA PVPS Task 7 report: PV in non-building structures
• Proceedings from Integration Concepts Workshop, Lausanne, 1999
• Further reading: Articles and other information on BIPV including papers presented at the conferences, national magazines etc. by Task7 experts.
• Link to information page about the PVSyst PV-simulation programme

• Visit also the website of IEA SHCP and PVPS Joint Working Group on PV/T systems

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Background article

PVPS 1996 Annual Report Feature Article
Revised 4. december 2000
Tony J.N. Schoen, Ecofys, NL

Building with photovoltaics - the challenge for Task 7 of the PV Power Systems Program

IEA PVPS Task 7

On January 1, 1997, IEA’s PV Power Systems Program welcomes a new task: Task 7 - PV in the Built Environment.
The objective of IEA PVPS Task 7 is to enhance the architectural quality, the technical quality and the economic viability of PV systems in the built environment and to assess and remove non-technical barriers for their introduction as an energy-significant option.

Primary focus of IEA PVPS Task 7 is on the integration of PV into the architectural design of (roofs and facades of residential, commercial and industrial) buildings and other structures in the built environment (such as noise barriers, parking area's and railway canopies), and on other market factors, both technical and non-technical, that need to be addressed and resolved before wide spread adoption of PV in the built environment will occur.

Essential for the success of IEA PVPS Task 7 is the active involvement of urban planners, architects, building engineers and building industry. IEA PVPS Task 7 shall motivate the collaboration between these groups and PV system specialists, utility specialists, PV industry and other professionals involved in photovoltaics.

The joint effort will consist mainly of the evaluation and development of innovative concepts for the integration of PV into the built environment, the demonstration of integration concepts, contribution to the development of standards and guidelines, and the study of economical aspects and other market factors that impede the wide-spread application of PV in buildings.

The work of IEA PVPS Task 7 will be carried out in four Subtasks, each of them concentrating on specific parts of the objective. Subtask 1 looks at the architectural quality of PV systems, Subtask 2 concentrates on the technical quality (‘buildability’), Subtask 3 is devoted to non-technical barriers (including assessment of the potential and economics of building integrated PV). Subtask 4, finally, works on the dissemination of the results of the task. The total duration of the work of the Task will be 5 years.

Main impacts of IEA PVPS Task 7 will be:

• a strongly increased interest from the side of architects and builders in the actual application of PV in buildings
• improved economics of building integrated PV by the development of innovative integration concepts
• a contribution to the removal of other market barriers that impede the wide-spread application of PV in buildings.

Building integrated PV

The use of PV power systems around the world is increasing. PV is rapidly changing from ‘high-tech’ electricity supply for space travel to an everyday source of energy. Photovoltaics are an elegant means of producing electricity on site, directly from the sun, without concern for fuel supply or environmental impact. Solar power is produced silently with no maintenance, no pollution and no depletion of resources. Photovoltaics are also exceedingly versatile - the same technology that can pump water, grind grain and provide communications and village electrification in situations where no electricity is available, can produce electricity for the buildings and distribution grids of the industrialized countries.

In locations where no electricity grid is available, PV can be a technically feasible and cost-effective solution. The application of PV in stand-alone electricity consumers such as isolated houses, light buoys and telecommunication systems, represent a huge potential market. Indeed, from the Arctic to the Equator, numerous stand-alone systems are being equipped with PV, bringing renewable, environmentally friendly energy to off-grid areas.

A different type of application of PV is the grid-connected PV-system producing clean solar power for the electricity grid. It is expected that in the next century this type of PV system will contribute substantially to the main-stream power production, though power produced by photovoltaics in most occasions is still more than five times as expensive as energy from the grid. Further substantial cost reductions are required.

The economic improvement of photovoltaics occurs not only through the increasing efficiency of solar cells. Cost reductions can also be achieved through the integration of grid-connected photovoltaics into the built environment (BIPV).

PV installations can be installed on surfaces of buildings, along roads or railways, allowing the possibility to combine energy production with other functions of the building envelope, such as roof and facade integration, sun blinds and solar thermal collectors.
Cost savings through these combined functions can be substantial, e.g. in expensive facade systems where cladding costs may equal the costs of the PV modules. Additionally, no high-value land is required, and no separate support structure is necessary. Electricity is generated at the point of use. This avoids transmission and distribution losses and reduces the utility company’s capital and maintenance costs.
The integration of PV into the architectural design offers more than cost benefits, however. It also allows the designer to create environmentally benign and energy efficient buildings without sacrificing comfort, aesthetics or economy.

A number of projects around the world show an emerging market for grid connected PV systems, despite the fact that electricity from solar cells still is more expensive than grid power. Pioneers in this field are beginning to install PV for energy-efficiency and ecological reasons as well as for reasons of aesthetics and prestige. On the other hand, electric utilities view building integrated PV as a decentralized power source with a large potential for the future and are correspondingly starting to construct and operate building-integrated PV systems.

The challenge is to meet these market expectations and to develop photovoltaics into a cost-effective and clean power source, available to the utility companies and the building owners of the next century. The interest of the photovoltaics R&D community and PV industry, together with architects, the building industry and property developers, is required in order to take up this challenge effectively on the national, European and international levels. Task 7 of the PV Power Systems Program of the IEA (International Energy Agency) is an example of such a collaboration at an international level.

IEA PVPS Task 7 - the solar challenge

During the last five years, the technology for integrating PV into buildings has achieved a sound basis. Projects have been successfully realized all around the world. Substantial R&D efforts have been carried out on the national level as well as in international programs (EU Joule & Thermie, IEA Solar Heating and Cooling Program).

In order to successfully achieve market implementation, a number of consecutive actions are required:

• further cost reductions and improvement of the economics of BIPV
• enhancement of the technical and architectural quality of BIPV
• assessment and removal of non-technical barriers.

The objectives of IEA PVPS Task 7 reflect these actions.

Cost reductions

The technologies which are nowadays available for the integration of PV into buildings are, in general, too expensive for large scale introduction. Cost reductions are thus still essential. They can be achieved by carefully redesigning the PV support structure, but also by integrating the PV system into well-known building components such as the prefabricated roof or the structural-glazing facade.

Quality enhancement

If PV is to become a well-accepted technology readily available for architects, building industry and property owners, integration concepts will have to meet regular building quality standards. This can be achieved by fully integrating the PV system into building materials and by integrating the construction process of BIPV systems into the building construction process. Building integration must include the building process.
On the other hand, the physical characteristics of PV products for integration in buildings must meet architectural requirements (color, size, materials), sometimes with economic consequences. Custom-made PV modules are more expensive than standard modules. This is a challenge for both the architect and the PV module manufacturer.

Non-technical barriers

Market acceptance, both by property developers and end-users (such as utility companies) is required. Added values, other than avoided electricity costs, should be clear to potential customers. The owner of the building and the operator of the PV-system must have long-term confidence in the performance of the PV system, both as an electricity source and as a building material.
If the utility is not the owner of the PV system, long term agreements on the grid-connection (including payback tariffs) are required.

Enhanced market acceptance is also assisted by a holistic approach of the design of the PV building, including overall energy efficiency and sustainability of building materials in the project design.

IEA PVPS Task 7 Activities

Operating Agent

Tony Schoen, Ecofys
PO Box 8408
NL-3503 RK Utrecht
The Netherlands

tel. +31 30 2913433
fax. +31 30 2913401
email T.Schoen@Ecofys.nl

National Contact Persons