There is a growing acceptance in many IEA member states that distributed grid-connected photovoltaics, and building integrated systems in particular, hold the key to widespread PV commercialization.

Since 1990, the IEA has been promoting the use of photovoltaics in buildings through Task 16 of the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme. That project is now drawing to a close, but the IEA will continue to pioneer developments in this important field through a new, dedicated project within the IEA  PVPS Programme.

Task 7, PV in the Built Environment, has been launched in the spring of 1996 at the final Task 16 symposium, with the first meeting being held in September. The new project will address the evaluation, development and demonstration of innovative concepts to integrate PV into the built environment - that is in roofs or facades of residential, commercial and industrial buildings, or in structures such as sound barriers, parking areas and railway station canopies. The Task also aims to assess and remove the non-technical barriers that are currently impeding the introduction of building integration photovoltaics as a significant energy option.

Task 7 will be more 'design oriented' than its predecessor where the objective was mainly to examine the technical feasibility of integrating PV into buildings. The change in emphasis will require a stronger input from urban planners, architects and building engineers, and greater collaboration between these groups and specialists from PV, utility and building industry backgrounds.

Austria, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the USA have already expressed their interest in joining Task 7, along with the Netherlands who will lead the project. Click for a complete list of Task participants.

Other interested in contributing to the future of PV in the built environment should contact the Operating Agent of Task 7.

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