BIPV

What is a Building Integrated Photovoltaic or a BIPV?

Building Integrated Photovoltaics serves more than one purpose. BIPVs produce electricity by the piezoelectric effect and serve as protection for any structure. 

BIPVs are installed to provide shed, block sunlight, and give a modern look to any building, all this while producing electricity from sunlight.

Where is a BIPV used?

A BIPV is integrated into a structure like conventional buildings. BIPVs replace glass windows with Solar windows, parking shed rooftops with solar roofs and solar shades in place of translucent covers. All these changes make the look of any structure modern while being extremely useful.

Types of Building Integrated Photovoltaics

Solar panels are silicon-based photovoltaic cells that produce electricity from sunlight. With micro adjustments according to the application, these cells transform into BIPVs. Based on various applications, there are broadly four types of BIPVs.

Image credit: Research Gate

• Solar-Facades: Solar Facades’ integration in building structures keeps the noise and air pollution out and gives any building a visual identity. This all while producing green energy.

• Solar-Window: Solar windows find their application both in residential and commercial properties. These windows look like any other windows but with solar modules.

• Solar-Roofs: Solar roofs like that of Tesla Energy in the USA are becoming popular. In conventional rooftops, these solar tiles replace asphalt tiles. Every tile acts as an individual cell and connects in series to generate electricity.

• PV-Sunshades: Parking lot sheds are the best example of PV-Sunshades. Additionally, these shades protect buildings from direct sunlight.

How does a BIPV work?

BIPVs use opaque or transparent solar cells connected in series to each other to give a substantial amount of current output. These photovoltaics are located in the portion of the building exposed to the sun the most.

What are big manufacturing brands of BIPVs?

Tesla Energy is one major brand in the USA backed by Elon Musk. They manufacture solar cell tiles for residential rooftops. Customers get a variety of tiles according to the required strength and size.

Some other contributors in this niche are:

• D2solar
• Mysolar USA  
• Omnis Power USA Inc  
• Redwood Renewables
• Skyco Skylights
• Solaria
• Sonali Solar USA

Manufacturers

In the simplest terms, manufacturing is the process of producing actual goods or items/products through the use of raw materials, human labour, use of machinery, tools and other processes such as chemical formulation. This process usually starts with product designing and raw material selection, turning them into an actual product output. 

Solar Products Manufacturers and Factories

In terms of solar, manufacturing encompasses the fabrication or production of materials across the solar market chain. The most common product being manufactured by solar companies are the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are made with several subcomponents such as solar wafers, cells, glass, back sheets, and frames. Before a solar panel comes into life, it will undergo a lot of processes, from designing, modelling, choosing what raw materials to use and then assembling them all to make the final product.

More Than Just Solar Panels

Aside from the solar panels, solar companies have many other manufactured products that are required to make solar energy systems work smoothly, like solar inverters, batteries, combiner boxes, and racking and tracking structures.

Having a solar manufacturing sector makes a big difference in supplying affordable solar energy in different areas. Aside from maintaining the rising domestic and global demand for cleaner and renewable energy, they also help the economy grow, particularly the solar industry. If you are in search of a reliable solar manufacturing company, checking out our solar outsourcing company, SolarFeeds, would help you get easy access to reliable information, news, data and a list of solar manufacturers that can help you with solar products.

Croatia

Solar Market Outlook in Croatia

Croatia holds immense potential when it comes to its renewable energy generation and reliance. This has prompted the government to set an ambitious target of 30% renewable energy consumption by 2030. 

In 2008, the renewable energy capacity in Croatia was only at 1%. By 2018, it was at 17%, which signals a 15% yearly growth rate for the country’s solar and renewable energy capacity. This projection was detailed in the government’s program to boost solar capacity – the National Renewable Energy Action Plan.  To boost this growth potential, the Croatian government has looked at improving feed-in-tariffs and premium tariff support schemes.

As of 2021, the projected solar energy capacity in Croatia is at 6.8 GW. Of this capacity, 5.3 GW is attributed to utility-scale PV plants and the rest (1.5 GW) is attributed to rooftop solar systems.

The government is serious about its renewable energy efforts such that they are drafting a law to identify potential obstacles to its renewable energy campaign, as well as ideas on how to remove those obstacles.

Solar Energy Equipment Supply Capacity in Croatia

There are two major solar power equipment suppliers and manufacturers in Croatia. For those looking for more options, there are plenty of suppliers online that are available, giving you more options to suit your solar needs. 

Top 8 Major Seaports & Logistics in Croatia

The seaport industry is a crucial part of Croatia’s economy and trade. Therefore, you have plenty of options when it comes to the logistics and transport of solar power equipment. These seaports include

• Split,
• Sibenik, 
• Dubrovnik,
• Rijeka,
• Ploce,
• Zadar.