Economic analysis of BIPV systems as a building envelope material for building skins in Europe.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the BIPV system as a building envelope material for the whole building skins. The paper is dealing with the lifecycle cost analysis (LCCA) of BIPV system in the capitals of all the European Union member states (EU) as well as the capitals of Norway and Switzerland. The results revealed that by a discount rate of zero, BIPV system could refund all the investment even on the north facades while in terms of traditional building envelope materials as an alternative option for building skins, there would be rarely added benefits after investment. Furthermore, the societal and environmental benefits of a BIPV system in Europe have its greatest impact on the south façade. Moreover, for all the studied directions of building skins with a discount rate of five present in Europe except the north facade, just the quantified amount of societal and environmental advantages of BIPV systems could almost reimburse all the invested money. The results illustrated that the BIPV system as a building envelope material for the whole building skins could reimburse not only all the investment costs but also become a source of income for the building. • BIPV is presented as a building envelope material for the whole building skins. • Economic analyses of a BIPV system in 30 countries are presented. • NPV, DPP, and IRR calculation for BIPV as a material for the whole building skins are done. • Replacing conventional façade materials with BIPV modules for building skins is feasible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]