Challenges and research needs in life cycle analysis of building-integrated photovoltaic

Xiaoyu Yan

doi:10.1088/1757-899x/556/1/012053

Abstract

Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) is a promising solar energy technology that looks set to grow in popularity in the pursuit of a sustainable future. It has the potential to mitigate some of the main concerns over ground-mounted solar energy systems such as land use. However, there is an apparent gap in our understanding of its life cycle environmental impacts. Very few life cycle analysis (LCA) studies have evaluated BIPV comprehensively in comparison with standalone PV systems and other energy technologies. In this paper, we review the limited existing LCA studies on BIPV and identify the challenges and future research needs. The findings will help researchers, industries and policy makers better understand the environmental sustainability of BIPV to facilitate its development.

Highlights

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is an emerging renewable energy technology that has great potential for meeting a significant portion of the electricity needs of cities globally [1,2]
Building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) is a promising solar energy technology that looks set to grow in popularity in the pursuit of a sustainable future
It has the potential to mitigate some of the main concerns over ground-mounted solar energy systems such as land use, which may result in competition with food production or ecological impacts

Summary

Introduction

Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is an emerging renewable energy technology that has great potential for meeting a significant portion of the electricity needs of cities globally [1,2]. The overall environmental performance of BIPV is less well understood compared with standalone solar farms or building-applied photovoltaics (BAPV) such as roof-mounted systems. There are studies investigating BI solar thermal energy systems (e.g., [6]) and solar PV and thermal (PVT) systems (e.g., [7]) These are excluded from the present review as PV only systems were analysed. Li et al (2018) presented an LCA of a novel high optical performance low-concentration concentrator PV module for building south wall integration in China [8]. It is unclear whether the PV system evaluated was BIPV or BAPV as no details of the integration were given in the paper.

Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Findings

Conclusions