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News: Boosting solar adoption in densely populated cities of India requires to look beyond traditional rooftop-mounted solar systems and towards Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV).
About Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)
- They are solar power generating products or systems that are seamlessly integrated into the building envelope—such as facades, roofs, skylights, or windows.
- Purpose: It has two purposes: generating electricity and working as a structural part of a building.
- It serves as the outer layer of a building, and it generates electricity for on-site use or exports it to the grid.
- This differs from traditional rooftop solar (RTS), where PV modules are placed on top of an existing roof.
- Unlike rooftop solar (RTS), systems, which are added to rooftops, BIPV systems are embedded into the building’s architectural fabric replacing conventional construction materials such as glass, tiles, and cladding with solar alternatives.
- Need for India
- India can’t rely solely on ground-mounted and rooftop systems to meet its goal to install 300 GW of solar capacity by 2030.
- Land-neutral solutions like BIPV need to be prioritised.
- Potential: The potential of BIPV for India’s existing building stock is estimated to be 309 GW.
- Challenges
- High initial costs
- Policy gaps
- Inadequate technical capacity
- Reliance on imports.
