A new report developed within the International Energy Agency PVPS Task 15, “BIPV: Education and Training Activities for Solar Architecture”, provides the first international mapping of academic and professional initiatives dedicated to solar architecture and integrated PV design.
Despite the increasing availability of BIPV products, deployment remains limited: BIPV represents only 1–3% of the global PV market. The report highlights key structural barriers including skills gaps, fragmented education systems, and limited integration between the construction and solar sectors.
The study maps 32 BIPV-related courses across 14 countries, showing that training initiatives exist but remain fragmented and often treated as elective topics rather than embedded in mainstream architecture and engineering curricula. Practice-oriented and interdisciplinary programmes—combining architectural design, PV technology and hands-on collaboration—appear particularly effective in addressing these gaps.
🔎 Explore the report:
https://iea-pvps.org/key-topics/t15-bipv-education-training-2026/
To stimulate discussion within the EU Solar Buildings community:
Is BIPV sufficiently integrated into architecture and engineering education in your country?
Which skills are currently most missing for designing and delivering solar buildings at scale?
How can EU initiatives better connect academia, industry and professional training for BIPV?
📚 We also invite you to open the report and check the global mapping. Inside the publication you will find a QR code that allows you to submit information about courses, training programmes or workshops where you are active. This will help expand the international overview and strengthen the BIPV education ecosystem.
