This publication provides a status report on the project underway to identify opportunities and barriers, establish functional specifications, and propose a roadmap for the uptake of building integrated PV.
Conventional photovoltaic (PV) module costs are reducing as manufacturers scale up PV production. Crystalline silicon (single or multi-crystalline wafers) still dominates the industry while thin film manufacturers, apart from CdTe, are having difficulty competing. The cost of the PV device is decreasing most significantly as production increases. This leaves module costs as well as Balance of Systems costs as the major barriers to further lowering costs.
As costs fall, the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from PV is now, in many places cost competitive with retail electricity prices. PV on buildings is therefore the most economic location to install PV.
RP1003: PV as an integrated building material: Status report, barriers and opportunities (2141631 PDF)