BOULDER, Colo. — Despite the difficult market environment for the solar industry as a whole, the opportunity for building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) looks extremely promising, according to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant’s Energy Practice. The firm forecasts that the worldwide market for BIPV and building applied photovoltaics (BAPV) will quadruple over the next five years, growing from $606 million in 2012 to more than $2.4 billion in 2017. Under a more aggressive forecast scenario, the worldwide BIPV market could reach $3.7 billion in 2017.

Until recently, aesthetic and performance concerns restrained architects from using BIPV technology in building designs, but this is changing as energy-efficient, flexible, and transparent solar materials become available, noted Pike Research.

“The emerging BIPV market, which straddles the building industry and the solar power industry, offers a new way to develop revenue streams for both parties,” said research director Kerry-Ann Adamson. “Solar suppliers have begun to partner with building and construction companies, as well as designers and architects, and have gained access to completely new markets. At the same time, building companies have started to recognize new opportunities in green buildings and in retrofitting existing homes and commercial facilities.”

While Western Europe will be the largest market for BIPV products, growth in the sector will be evenly distributed across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, according to the report.

And although the solar industry has faced numerous challenges in the United States, the U.S. government is paying greater attention to BIPV, as shown by the Department of Energy’s approval of an additional $145 million in funding for the SunShot Initiative — and specifically BIPV development programs — in September 2011.

Publication date: 9/10/2012