Building Integrated Photovoltaic system: Cost effectiveness

Abstract

As the prices of conventional fossil fuels are monotonically increasing and the environmental impacts are becoming more serious concerns among people, the focus on the renewable energy has been increasing around the world. Among all the solar technologies, photovoltaic (PV) is the most promising one which converts solar energy into electrical energy. In recent years, Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems have become more popular due to the increased attention that renewable energy resources have received as well as the decreasing trend of the manufacturing costs of PV panel and related accessories. This paper evaluates the cost effectiveness of BIPV system for a building in Dhaka considering the local as well as international market prices of different components of BIPV system. The overall cost of the system is compared with the local electricity tariff. The per unit electricity cost of the BIPV system is also compared with that producing from different fossil fuels. The result shows an encouraging feature for BIPV system in Bangladesh.