Solar building integration usher in development opportunities

Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that China’s basic national conditions and “soft points” with low per capita energy resources and irrational energy structure have recently pointed out at the first session of the National Energy Commission’s first meeting that it is necessary to promote changes in energy production and consumption patterns and improve green energy. Low-carbon, intelligent development level, implementation of declaration of warfare to fog and haze, enhancement of eco-friendly energy conservation and emission reduction measures, promotion of improvement of air quality, and development of a clean, efficient, safe and sustainable energy development road, providing stable economic growth support.

According to industry figures, under the background of the country’s efforts to solve the haze problem and promote low-carbon emission reductions, solar building integration has ushered in an opportunity for development.

It is understood that there are two main manifestations of solar energy building integration at the present stage: First, the integration of solar thermal buildings, installation of solar water heaters, heating devices, etc., in the building, the conversion of solar energy into heat energy to be used; Second, photovoltaic building integration It will soon integrate solar photovoltaic products into buildings, make full use of the external surface of the building, install a variety of photovoltaic power generation products, and generate electricity for its own use or on-grid transmission.

Policy boosts the integration of light and heat buildings

To develop a low-carbon economy, the use of green energy will play an important role in promoting. Solar energy is increasingly valued by governments of all countries for its features of energy saving, environmental protection, and renewable energy. As early as 2001, China began to explore the application of solar energy in buildings. The National Development and Reform Commission issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the Use of Solar Energy in the Whole Country" in 2007. In September of the same year, the State Environmental Protection Administration issued two national standards for "Home Solar Hot Water System" and "Solar Collector". In December 2012, the "Home A series of standards such as the energy efficiency limit value and energy efficiency level of solar hot water systems were successively introduced. At the same time, many provinces, districts and cities in China have promulgated and implemented policies to further promote the use of solar water heaters, and mandatory installation of solar hot water systems is required for civil buildings under the 12th floor and satisfying installation conditions.

Xu Qianming, Director of the Solar Energy Working Group of the Beijing Safe Housing Department, said at the National Promotion Conference on Low-carbon, Energy-saving and Environmental Products in 2014 that under the general situation of the country advocating energy conservation and emission reduction, China currently has a total of 21 provinces, municipalities, and more than 80 countries. The cities introduced a mandatory installation policy for solar hot water systems. The addition of government administrative power has enabled the city's solar market to expand rapidly.

According to Xu Qiangming, the provinces and cities where China's mandatory installation of solar thermal energy are mainly concentrated in the eastern coastal cities and the central region. In recent years, many provinces, regions, and cities across the country have implemented regulations for the installation and use of solar energy in new buildings under 12 floors. However, as far as the reporter knows, since 2013, many provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China have forced the installation of solar hot water systems to break through 12 floors. In early 2013, Shandong Province took the lead in putting forward construction projects that meet the requirements and will promote and apply solar thermal systems in 12-storey buildings.

Experts in the industry stated that the promotion of the 12-plus compulsory installation policy to the whole country is a trend, and the solar energy promotion and utilization market will be further expanded. According to the latest statistics from the Energy Conservation Service Committee of the China Energy Conservation Association, the existing national building area is 43 billion square meters, and 2 billion square meters of new buildings are added every year. If the upper level is included in the scope of mandatory installation of solar hot water systems, this will be a vast space for green buildings, and it will also bring new market growth points for solar thermal products.

Photovoltaic building integration market potential

Frequent haze weather has prompted China to adjust its long-term dependence on traditional fossil energy sources such as coal. Therefore, the development of alternative energy sources will help boost economic transformation and solve the problem of haze at the source, which will become an inevitable choice for China's sustainable development. In the country's advocacy of low-carbon energy-saving situation, photovoltaic buildings are placed high hopes.

“The best carrier for the application of distributed photovoltaics in cities and towns is construction. Architecture is the main body and carrier for the use of distributed photovoltaic energy.” Zhong Jishou, director of the National Research Center for Housing and Residential Environment Engineering Technology, said that buildings are the most important The carrier of life, increasing the use of photovoltaics is the main trend in the future. At the same time, photovoltaics can also be used in urban facilities and buildings such as street lights and bridges.

It is understood that the combination of photovoltaic power generation and construction has obvious advantages. First, it saves space; Second, it can be used for its own purposes, reducing energy consumption and costs in the process of power transmission; Third, cost savings, use of new building materials to replace expensive exterior decoration materials. , Reduced the overall cost of the building; Fourth, in the peak period of electricity can supply power to the grid to solve the contradiction between supply and demand in the peak and valley of the grid; Fifth, eliminate the air pollution caused by general fossil fuel power generation.

“A single analysis from the integration of photovoltaic buildings, and vigorously promote the photovoltaic building integration industry can optimize the current power supply structure. At the same time, replacing fossil energy with new energy has become a necessity for production and living, and it can achieve the goal of stimulating domestic demand through consumption.” Li Hejun, vice chairman of the Hanergy Group, believes that the potential direct scale of the photovoltaic building integration market is about 10 trillion yuan, which is equivalent to 3-5 times the size of China's auto industry market, and the scale of economic growth can be indirectly stimulated. Up to 30 trillion yuan, a total of 4 trillion yuan in fiscal revenue can be created, the conservative employment created by a conservative estimate of 10 million to 20 million.

Industry development needs to explore a win-win model

As the solar energy resources are extremely abundant, and the building area for installation of solar energy products is also increasing, and the continuous development of solar energy development and utilization technologies, the prospects of solar energy building integration are generally optimistic. However, it is regrettable that the integration of solar energy construction in our country is relatively slow.

“Building a solar-integrated building will undoubtedly increase the development cost. If the selling price of the building does not change, it means that the developers should bear this part of the cost themselves; if the price of the home is increased, it may bring potential market risks.” A real estate developer admitted to reporters that real estate companies are not enthusiastic about the development of solar integrated buildings. Due to the problems of high cost, long cycle of investment recovery, and inconsistent industry standards in the integration of photovoltaic buildings, real estate developers will encounter various restrictions in applying for state policy subsidies, so they simply gave up on the integration of photovoltaic buildings. try.

“In the development of photovoltaic building integration, there is still a policy subsidy to leave the country. Everyone is reluctant to do it. The implementation of photovoltaic building integration does not simply put together photovoltaics and buildings, but requires companies to continuously explore and study both. It is organically integrated," said Liang Junqiang, deputy director of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and Promotion of Science and Technology.

“Distributed PV power plants have been emphasizing the integration with buildings, and developers are the best building subjects for the BIPV project. Developers can build a comprehensive solar energy utilization system that integrates thermal and photovoltaic power generation.” China Meng Xianji, vice chairman of the Renewable Energy Society believes. The business model, the division of ownership of investment returns, the management system, and whether or not special support policies and laws and regulations need to be introduced or developed require further exploration. Meng Xianyi stated that under the background of vigorously developing distributed photovoltaic power plants, developers have great potential as construction subjects.