Assessment of the Suitability of Different Photovoltaic Cell Technologies for Product Development of Building Integrated Solutions Using the Hierarchy Process (ahp)
Abstract
Photovoltaic systems integrated into the built environment can have a significant role in our pursuit to achieve the targets set by regulatory legislation with regards to nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB). However, the share of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) products on the market have seen a slower growth than predicted. One of the main barriers to their diffusion includes the lack of knowledge among different stakeholders. Reducing this knowledge gap between the building industry and the PV industry is of utmost importance. The project presented in this paper aims to use the multi-criteria analysis method of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) as a tool to align the preferences of architects, product developers and engineers for integrated solutions with the most suitable PV technology. This can provide product developers with the necessary information to create PV applications that will better satisfy consumer and designer preferences and reduce the knowledge gap between the different stakeholders.