The social and environmental impact of building integrated photovoltaics technology

Abstract

Various sustainable energy technologies are evolving around the world to reduce the carbon footprints in buildings. Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is one of the emerging sustainable technologies and it refers to a technology where the elements of the building envelope such as facade and roof are replaced with solar cells. However, the adoptability of BIPV technology in buildings is limited as its costs and benefits are unknown to the public. This study aims to review the BIPV literature qualitatively, to explore the beneficial-related and cost-related factors of adopting BIPV technology. A thematic analysis was undertaken among journal papers published between 2011 to 2019 that focused their investigation on integrated solar renewable systems. The identified cost and benefit-related factors were classified into environmental, health, design, and social themes. It is recommended that further research can be undertaken to explore the importance of cost and beneficial factors identified in this study quantitatively. Finally, these factors will assist in quantitatively measuring the societal impacts of BIPV technology.