![bipv timeline](https://solarchitecture.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bipv-timeline.jpg)
BIPV timeline – Evolution of BIPV in 40 years: architecture, technology and costs. Source: BIPV Status Report 2020.
Author: Dr. Cristina Silvia Polo López, Paolo Corti, Pierluigi Bonomo
SUPSI-ISAAC, Swiss BIPV Competence Centre
This article introduces chapter 1 « Evolution of BIPV in 40 years: architecture, technology and costs » of the BIPV Status Report 2020 « Building Integrated Photovoltaics: A practical handbook for solar buildings’ stakeholders », a joint publication SUPSI Institute of Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment (ISAAC) and the Becquerel Institute.
Chapter 1 is a collection of historical buildings on which a BIPV system was installed, from the ‘90s up to now. This allowed the analysis of a category of buildings that many architects are hesitant to approach considering the high restrictions associated with these contexts. In addition, an analysis of best practices and case studies that influenced the BIPV evolution during the 40 years of the BIPV history was carried out. The 97 case studies collected in the handbook, also including historical buildings, are grouped by:
- technological system (opaque and semi-transparent building envelope);
- characterizing clusters, groups: (BI)PV as experimentation; architecture of standard PV; energy integration: BIPV as a building skin material; BIPV in dialogue with history;
- and values: nominal power, final yield, solar ratio and efficiency).
For the full text, see chapter 1, downloadable in the « see also » column.