BIPV Systems: Advances in Building Integrated Photovotaics

Materials that can currently be manufactured with photovoltaics (solar cells) built in:

> Glass (windows, skylights, etc)

> Roofing panels for flat roofs or very large roofs that do not show from ground level

> Solar roofing tiles that look like conventional roofing tiles

> Shingles that make your residential roof look almost identitical to conventional roofs (except that this BIPV can make your electric meter spin backwards!)

> Awnings with built in photovoltaics may even look better than conventional wanings

> Exterior solar tiles that are decorative and can be used for the entire facade

> Even concrete has been made with BIPV solar cells integrated

> Siding is being designed that will cover a house with solar cells!

Its not so much the materials themselves that are getting more advanced, its the technology involved in integrating the photovoltaics (solar cells).

BIPV is continually growing, so this list of building integrated solar will be updated often!