Building integrated photovoltaic (bipv) implementation: developer perspective

Sustainable development is one of the main issues in the developing world today. In order to achieve sustainable development, the construction and energy sector has been identified by global community as the key area that need to be prioritized. Due to the interdependency of these two sectors, the Malaysian government has done extensive research and development on renewable energy (RE). One of the key initiatives is the introduction of the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV). However, the implementation of BIPV is still relatively weak in the Malaysia context. This because of the developers’ are sceptical on investing in BIPV and are concern to short term profit based rather than long term investment. However, with the latest economic investment into Iskandar Johor, BIPV have good prospect ahead. The purpose of this research is to introduce developers as a catalyst or push factor in the implementation of BIPV in Malaysia. The method used is Qualitative In-depth Interview to get a wide perspective and a depth perspective. Data from seven developers gathered from the interview addressed their concerns and also ways to overcome the concerns plus also their strategy in the selection of BIPV. The results are very promising and showed the determination of the developers in implementing BIPV into the housing projects with the developers providing a very positive feedback into the research. In conclusion, BIPV has promising potential to be implemented in Malaysia and it is important in increasing the awareness of the construction industry players in sustainable development. The outcome of this research is beneficial the knowledge of the developers and increase awareness to the house buyers