In a new report, IEA PVPS says conventional ground-mounted solar PV design assumptions may not accurately reflect BIPV, FPV, and agrivoltaic operating conditions
Analysts believe performance assessment for integrated PV needs to consider application-specific technical, economic, environmental, and social factors
They call for more representative testing and long-term field data to improve reliability assessments and design standards
The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEA PVPS) has called for more application-specific approaches to designing and evaluating solar PV systems as solar deployment expands into buildings, water bodies, and agricultural land.
In its August 2026 Task 13 report, Optimisation of Photovoltaic Systems for Different Applications, IEA PVPS examines building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), floating photovoltaics (FPV), and agrivoltaics (AV). It says conventional PV design approaches, developed mainly for ground-mounted systems, are no longer sufficient for these applications.
Report writers explain that because integrated PV systems operate under different environmental conditions and perform multiple functions, their design must account for factors beyond electricity generation. Identified factors include durability, safety, environmental interactions, and stakeholder acceptance.
IEA PVPS said applying conventional assumptions can result in higher degradation, inaccurate energy-yield estimates and unsuitable component selection. Integrated systems can experience different thermal behavior, irradiance conditions, mechanical loads, and degradation pathways than ground-mounted PV.
It offers the Flakkebjerg agrivoltaic test site in Denmark as a case study for application-specific challenges. The 998 kW system uses bifacial PERC modules on single-axis trackers. The report found that some crops, including rapeseed, grew taller than the trackers' 70-cm ground clearance at ±55° tilt angles in the 2025 growing season. This could damage crops and cause power losses through shading. The project is therefore examining adaptive tracking and backtracking strategies.
The challenges also vary by application. BIPV systems, for instance, must operate as both power generators and building components. These require compliance with structural and fire-safety requirements along with addressing issues related to restricted ventilation and partial shading.
A 368 kW BIPV façade project in Amsterdam uses 1,735 colored frameless glass-glass modules across a 3,013 m² building façade. The system has to meet architectural and building-envelope requirements while operating in a maritime environment with high humidity and strong winds. The project therefore illustrates how module design, aesthetics, durability, and electrical performance must be considered together in BIPV, as per the report.
On the other hand, FPV systems face humidity, corrosion, biofouling, wind, waves, and other mechanical stresses.
Agrivoltaic systems need to balance solar generation with crop production and farming activities.
The report therefore recommends a broader set of performance indicators. Depending on the application, these can include energy yield per available area, self-consumption, dual-use value, land productivity, environmental interactions, and stakeholder acceptance, alongside conventional measures such as performance ratio and levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).
“Integrated PV systems are multi-purpose infrastructure, requiring a broader performance framework than energy yield or LCOE alone,” stresses IEA PVPS.
IEA PVPS also highlighted limitations in existing testing and modeling methods. The standardized IEC 61853 energy rating methodology remains useful for comparing PV module performance, but its conventional reference conditions do not fully capture the operating conditions of BIPV, FPV, and agrivoltaic systems. The report therefore calls for application-specific mounting conditions, thermal modeling and further adaptations to energy-rating methods.
Dedicated, application-specific R&D benchmarking facilities can help bridge the gap between laboratory testing and real-world operating conditions. While there has been some progress in the BIPV domain in developing international test facilities for benchmarking and performance evaluation of BIPV, the same remains limited for FPV and AV.
The report says that there is a clear need for application-specific testing, improved modeling, and long-term field data for all three integrated PV applications.
“Integrated PV systems require design approaches that go beyond those developed for conventional ground-mounted PV systems, and should be understood as multifunctional infrastructure rather than stand-alone energy assets,” the report said.
The complete report is available for free download on the IEA PVPS website.
