Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (n/ZEB) or Plus Energy Buildings (PEB) can only be realised by integrating building with power generation systems. Total installed capacity of building integrated power genera-tion systems stand at 1,678 MW at the end of 2012 of which solar PV constitutes about 1,000 MW and the rest 678 MW is harvested from wind turbines.
Overview
The demand for PV in building sector is highly driven by the increased emphasis on energy efficiency in building sector. Definitive and voluntary policy instruments targeted at both increasing the share of renewable energy as well as decreasing the energy consumption in buildings serve as growth factors. However, there is a need to well educate end users of the benefits of BIPV making them aware of the existing policy instruments and how they perceive aesthetic benefits of BIPV. Excessive red tapes in market needs to be removed. Capacity building measures such as sensitising designers and architects, increasing qualified service providers for PV installation need to be taken up.
Solar photovoltaic panels are capable of tapping the enormous potential of freely available solar radiation in the form of light and convert it to usable electrical energy. Although no concrete data is available, it is estimated that Building Integrated Photovoltaic systems constitute about 1% of the total installation capacity of 100,000 MW at the end of 2012 (Sawin, 2013). The cumulative installed Photovoltaic (PV) power has increased from 103 MW to 63,611 MW in the past two decades worldwide (IEA, 2010) and stands at 136,697 MW as of 2013 (EPIA, 2013). The installed cost of BIPV has a wide range depending on the capacity, make and the country from as low as €2,000/kW in China to up to €4,200/kW in parts of Europe. Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) from BPIV ranges from €cent12.4 in India and China to up to €cent19.6 in parts of Europe.
Building mounted/integrated and Urban Wind Turbines (BUWT) have a nominal rated capacity of 0.5-100 kW and designed to operate at wind speeds as low as 2.5 m/s, which suits the unstable, and low wind speed pockets in urban areas. As per Wwindea.org (2013) the globally installed small wind capacity has reached more than 678 MW as of the end of 2012 of which China stands first with 39 %, followed by the USA for 31 % of this capacity and then the UK with 9.4%. It is to be noted that in 2012 new BUWTs of capacity of more than 102 MW have been added to global market accounting for about 18.4 % of cumulative market increase compared to 2011 (Wwindea.org, 2013). The installed cost per BUWT has a wide range depending on the capacity, make and the country from as low as €1,500/kW in China to up to €9,120/kW in Europe. Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) from wind turbines ranges from €cent 6.9 in India and China to up to €cent17.4 in parts of Europe.
Technology
Building integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems and Building mounted/integrated and Urban wind Turbines are most popular building integrated power generation technologies.
The key component of PV system is PV panels. PV panels convert available solar energy into usable electrical energy. Photovoltaic panel requires various other components to complete the process of energy generation, storage and transmission depending on the PV technology being used and the function of the PV. They typically include an AC-DC converter, a battery bank for remote systems, auxiliary energy supply, charge controller, rectifier, and energy distribution to appliances or to the grid. The system also includes a series of electrical wiring for connection and controls panels at various levels.
Wind energy is harvested by the use of devices knows as wind turbines. Wind turbines have rotors that obstruct the wind and it rotates the turbine attached to the rotor and generates electricity. Wind turbines can be classified as Horizontal axis wind turbines and Vertical axis wind turbines and some other small and custom-built wind turbines.
Comparison
The cost effectiveness of renewable energy technologies can be assessed by a parameter known as Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE). LOCE provides an esitmate of the cost of electricity generation by a renewable energy system over its lifetime by taking into account the capital, installation and maintenance costs of the renewable energy source as compared to the utility electricity price. It has to be noted that besides the said costs LOCE also highly depends on the financing, discounting and feedback tariff of renewable energy systems.
A quick and rough LCOE analysis of building integrated PV systems has been performed from the data based on IRENA and Photon, 2011, based on electricity prices from open source data using a calculator tool developed by NREL. This gives an impression of cost effectiveness of PV systems in those particular countries, for some key parameters.
Comparison of LCOE for PV systems in different countries
| Country |
PV system installation cost in €/kWp |
Electricity price from supplier (€cent/kWh) |
LCOE of electricity price (€cent/kWh) |
LCOE from PV system (€cent/kWh) |
€cent/kWh saved |
| Germany |
2,235 |
26 |
37.1 |
13.2 |
23.9 |
| Italy |
2,980 |
20 |
28.5 |
15.6 |
12.6 |
| France |
3,500 |
14 |
19.9 |
17.3 |
2.6 |
| Spain |
2,980 |
16 |
22.8 |
15.6 |
7.2 |
| Portugal |
4,200 |
18 |
25.7 |
19.6 |
6.1 |
| USA |
2,980 |
20 |
28.5 |
15.6 |
12.6 |
| China |
2,000 |
08 |
11.4 |
12.4 |
-1.0 |
| India |
2,235 |
08 |
11.4 |
13.2 |
-1.8 |
| Japan |
2,235 |
14 |
19.9 |
13.2 |
6.7 |
Source: calculated based on the tool available from Nrel.gov, 2015; Key assumptions included – capacity factor of 20%, O&M cost of 100 €/year and for LCOE of electricity price, cost escalation rate of utility electricity price is 3%/year and for a period of 25 years for all the countries. The data is intended to give the reader an impression of how LOCE varies from country to country based on Electricity price and PV system installation costs. The data may not be quite accurate till date.
Comparison of LCOE for BUWT systems in different countries
| Country |
BUWT system installation cost in € |
Utility price (€cent/kWh) |
LCOE from Utility (€cent/kWh) |
LCOE from BUWT system (€cent/kWh) |
€cent/kWh saved |
| Europe-Germany |
2,500 |
26 |
34.8 |
7.8 |
27 |
| Europe-Germany |
5,000 |
26 |
34.8 |
12.6 |
22.2 |
| Europe-Germany |
7,500 |
26 |
34.8 |
17.4 |
17.4 |
| Europe-France |
2,500 |
14 |
18.8 |
7.8 |
11 |
| Europe-France |
5,000 |
14 |
18.8 |
12.6 |
6.2 |
| Europe-France |
7,500 |
14 |
18.8 |
17.4 |
1.4 |
| USA |
2,500 |
20 |
26.8 |
7.8 |
19 |
| USA |
5,000 |
20 |
26.8 |
12.6 |
14.2 |
| USA |
7,500 |
20 |
26.8 |
17.4 |
9.4 |
| China |
2,000 |
08 |
10.7 |
6.9 |
3.8 |
| India |
2,000 |
11 |
14.7 |
6.9 |
7.8 |
Source: calculated based on the tool available from Nrel.gov, 2015; Key assumptions included – capacity factor of 40%, O&M cost of 100 €/year and cost escalation rate of utility electricity price is 3% and for a period of 20 years for all the countries. The data is intended to give the reader an impression of how LOCE varies from country to country based on Electricity price and PV system installation costs. The data may not be quite accurate till date.
A quick and rough LCOE analysis of building integrated BUWT systems has been performed from the data based on IRENA and Photon, 2011, based on electricity prices from open source data using a calculator tool developed by NREL. This gives an impression of cost effectiveness of BUWT systems in those particular countries (for a range of installation costs), for some key parameters.
Authors
Sriraj Gokarakonda
Christopher Moore
References
- EPIA, (2014). Market Report 2013. [online] Brussels: EPIA. Available at: http://www.xn--pikeseelekter-bfb.ee/pdf/Market_Report_2013.pdf [Accessed 2 Dec. 2015].
- Iea-pvps.org, (2010). iea-pvps.org - Home. [online] Available at: http://www.iea-pvps.org/ [Accessed 9 May 2013].
- Nrel.gov, (2015). NREL: Energy Analysis - Levelized Cost of Energy Calculator. [online] Available at: http://www.nrel.gov/analysis/tech_lcoe.html [Accessed 9 May 2013].
- Sawin, J. (2013). Renewables 2013 Global Status Report. Paris: REN21.
- Wwindea.org, (2013). Home. [online] Available at: http://www.wwindea.org [Accessed 10 Apr. 2012].
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