Featured in Trade barriers spoil solar's party – 09-2019

The return of BIPV

Since the beginning of 2019, many people within China’s PV industry have started to get the same feeling. Not about grid parity, or about mono replacing multi, but about something more unexpected. More and more people are speaking up at conferences and meetings about building-integrated PV (BIPV), which has been little more than a niche curiosity for years. Now BIPV, it seems, is making a big comeback in China.

By

Vincent Shaw

16 Sep 2019

Image: Hanergy

BIPV developed very quickly in China between 2009 and 2012, when the entire PV industry was supported by government subsidies. But since 2013, when the feed-in tariff (FIT) policy replaced direct subsidies, BIPV has been relegated to the sidelines in favor of ground-mounted PV plants, Top Runner projects, distributed PV arrays and residential rooftop installations. …

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