Abstract
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. But 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.
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.
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