BIPV may be small potatoes now, but could become a solar feast

The vision of building-integrated photovoltaics vision is often stunning: "high-performance buildings" sporting photovoltaic "skin," their roofs, glass, and walls alive with the steady, daily flow of photons being converted to electrons, the structures' energy needs more than met by the e-juice provided by the PV integrated into their own construction materials.

But the reality is, even though there is a lot of BAPV (building-applied PV) out there--think roof-mounted racks of crystalline modules--and many beautiful solar-powered homes and businesses have been built, we are at the dawn of the true BIPV age, where PV technologies not only integrate with the builder's materials, but actually replace the envelope of systems and surfaces on homes, warehouses, factories, and other structural edifices, according to an April 13 PV-tech.org report.

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