Review of Technological Design Options for Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)

Abstract This paper reviews and analyzes technological design options, which have become available to date for BIPV systems on roofs and facades, independently of specific products or building projects. This means that this survey does not analyze existing products or realized buildings, but provides an overview of the technologies for BIPV. The starting point is an analysis of the relevance of BIPV technologies for the decarbonization of energy systems, providing energy for direct use of electricity and sector coupling together with an analysis of the German BIPV market. The paper presents the wide range of technical design options for BIPV systems and categorizes and analyzes them to provide a structured overview. This comprises a detailed analysis of the design options for BIPV modules, in which not only the design options for the PV cell layer were comprehensively investigated, but also the different variants of embedding materials, front and rear cover materials, additional interlayers and electrical module layout. Two fundamental module-level design options were investigated in particular detail: The use of PV cells as basic elements of patterns and the use of color to conceal the PV cells. Subsequently, options for the design of complete electrical systems are reviewed, ranging from sub-module level design parameters to building energy systems. Design options for the constructional integration of BIPV modules in the building envelope complete the review of technological design possibilities.