ABSTRACT
This chapter presents definitions and several categories of product-integrated photovoltaics (PIPVs), such as consumer products, lighting products, business-to-business applications, recreational products, vehicles, or other forms of transportation and arts. Also, it addresses and summarizes various design features of PV products. PIPVs can be applied well in different product categories of various power levels, ranging from several milliwatts to several kilowatts. About 70% of the PV products analyzed contain an autonomous PV system with batteries that can be used without a grid connection. About 62% of the analyzed PV products are used outdoors, while approximately 22% are used indoors and 16% both indoor and outdoor. Approximately 38% of the low-power PV products use thin-film solar cells (a-Si), whereas 75% of high-power PV products mainly use silicon PV cells. Close to 82% of PIPV products use an energy storage device, while 18% do not use any batteries. In this chapter, the environmental impact of PIPV products is also explored, and human factors are addressed, using various product examples, leading to useful insights for the design of products with integrated PVs.
