Hanergy has installed a 460 kW building integrated PV (BIPV) project in China. The Chinese thin-film company has completed the HanWall project for a single building of China Pharmaceutical International Innovation Park (PIIP) in Jiangxi province's Nanchang city.
For this project, Hanergy has applied 6,000 m2 of its BIPV product HanWall Oerlikon modules on the building façade. A total of 4,600 electricity generating units measure 1,200 mm by 1,130 mm with a capacity of 100 W each. It claims this is 'China's biggest photovoltaic glass curtain wall on a single building'.
Using BIPV technology, the building will be able to generate electricity as well as reduce solar radiation for the indoor space leading to cooling of the temperature inside the building. Electricity generated by the modules will majorly be used to power indoor lighting, ventilation system and air-conditioning to reduce the building's dependence for electricity on the national grid. The reliance on the grid will be 'substantially negligible'.
"The current project is aligned with our "New Eco City" initiative which is primarily intended to introduce the idea of Eco-building into the public arena. We're happy to see our efforts to make the concept of sustainable buildings are showing significant results," said Hanergy's Senior Vice President Zhang Bin. "It gives us further impetus to lead the movement of creating the buildings that are sustainable and self-reliant."
The Chinese company has also used its BIPV technology for a 18-floor building in Heyuan in Guangdong province where it installed 2,823.67 m2 of solar curtain wall with an annual generation capacity of 210,000 kWh.
BIPV is still a niche market globally despite its huge potential. In a June 2019 report on the potential of BIPV for European markets, SolarPower Europe and ETIP PV said the need of the hour is to tap local authorities in Europe for BIPV application which would generate long-term and sustainable demand for the technology (see Tapping BIPV Potential Of European Cities).