Roofs could technically generate up to 40 per cent of the EU’s electricity demand by 2020, according to a new study by the European Photovotaic Industry Association (EPVA). The organisation estimates that 40 per cent of Europe's roofs and 15 per cent of its facades are suitable for PV installations.
Integration of photovoltaic energy in buildings provides an enormous development potential for the PV industry as well as for the construction sector, says the EPVA. And PV applications, apart from contributing to the generation of electricity and improving the passive energy behaviour of buildings, can replace conventional building components and also provide different functions such as, water tightening, weather protection, heat insulation and light modifications.
Currently in some European countries the BIPV market is driven by specific support schemes, designed in such a way that BIPV systems are rewarded with a higher tariff per kWh generated than for Building Adapted PV (BAPV), where the PV modules are installed on top of the existing building structure and do not provide any additional function.
This, says the EPVA, acknowledges the added effort and extra cost of integrating PV as part of the building envelope. It is in particular the case in France and Italy where BIPV already represents over one third of the annual market. In other countries such as Germany and Spain, where support schemes are not differentiated between both types of systems, BIPV only represents a very marginal share of the market (up to one per cent), representing mainly niche applications where cost is not an issue.
EPIA released last year its 'SET For 2020 study', showing that, provided specific boundary conditions are met, PV installed capacity could reach up to 390GWp in Europe by 2020, representing 12 per cent of the electricity demand by then.
