Seoul sees renewable energy potential in building facades

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans to offer financial support to building owners wishing to incorporate building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) systems into their facades this year. The city already has BIPV system incorporated buildings thanks to recent construction rules that require all buildings occupying more than 1,000 square meters of total ground area to generate renewable energy. Above is Four Points by Sheraton Seoul, Gangnam. /Courtesy of ALU EnC

By Kim Se-jeong

The city offers subsidies for Building Integrated Photovoltaic.

Solar energy evokes for many an image of solar panels covering up an empty, vast area of land.

Solar panels, professionally called photovoltaics, concentrate light and convert that light into electric currents. Thousands of panels are laid tilted, instead of flat, toward the sun to maximize the amount of rays reaching the panels.

Another popular method, such as the Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV), is used in building construction.

BIPV's photovoltaic modules are incorporated into the construction of new buildings, usually in the facade or on rooftops. A big advantage is that it is space effective. Globally, BIPV is one of the fastest growing segments of the solar energy application industry.

This month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has become the first local government to announce its subsidy plan for BIPV buildings.

The pilot project, according to the city government, will offer financial help for new buildings that would incorporate BIPV in their facades. The government allocated 1 billion won for the project this year.

"Not only does the BIPV reduce the electricity cost without releasing fine dust or carbon emissions, it will also help improve the urban landscape," said a city government official. "Laying out solar panels on the roof can be ugly. We hope this pilot project will usher more BIPV-built-in buildings and support the industry to grow in Korea."

Seoul already has BIPV-incorporated buildings.

Hongdae Station on Line No. 2 is one example. Other examples include the two new Sewoon Towers in Euljiro 4-ga; Four Points by Sheraton Seoul Gangnam in Gangnam District; and Cheongji CH Tower in Jongno District.

What made this possible was building rules that require all buildings occupying more than 1,000 square meters of total ground area to have renewable energy generating facilities that would cover at least 30 percent of energy estimates. The rules apply to all new and renovated buildings.

For residential and small commercial buildings, the government is only encouraging owners to consider this with subsidies, because there's no legal obligation.

The BIPV industry in Korea is currently led by a few companies that research BIPV, produce the photovoltaic-incorporated building materials or install them onto buildings. ALUEnC is one, along with Eagon and KCC Corp.

As Korea continues to tighten building rules in light of climate change, business opportunities are expected to get bigger.

Seoul's renewable energy policy

Seoul has been serious about renewable energy for almost 10 years. It started in 2012 with a policy to reduce the reliance on nuclear energy ― Seoul relies heavily on nuclear energy.

Solar energy was introduced to fill the energy gap created by the phase out of nuclear energy. By 2014, the city successfully reduced 2 million tons of oil equivalent energy.

In 2017, the government announced the Solar City Seoul plan, under which the city is aiming to generate 1 gigawatt of energy ― equivalent to the amount generated by 1,400 soccer stadiums covered with solar panels ― using renewable energy sources by 2022.

In 2018, Seoul saw 114,637 kilowatts of renewable energy generated. Traditionally, biogas was the main source of renewable energy for the city, but solar energy is rising fast as a new source of renewable energy.

"Although there are many renewable energy sources, For Seoul, solar energy is the most sustainable and reliable," said a city government official. "If this is realized, we can reduce 544,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year," according to the plan.

Under this plan, the city is subsidizing small-scale solar panels for individual households ― they're small enough to fit countless apartment verandas. The city's goal is to get 1 million households to install the "mini" solar panels by 2022.

The city is also installing solar panels on all possible venues ― parks, school rooftops, parking lots, bus stop roofs, street benches, bridges and street lamps ― with an aim to generate 243.5 megawatt of electricity by 2022.

Transfer to renewable energy, unavoidable

Climate change makes transformation to renewable energy unavoidable, as traditional sources of fossil fuels generates greenhouse gases.

According to www.ourworlddata.org, hydropower is by far the most popular form of renewable energy source globally. Wind energy is the second most popular form, followed by solar and others. The same is for electricity mix, as hydropower is the most dominant source of global electricity.

In the renewable energy industry, China is a key stakeholder. It is building many types of renewable energy forms, particularly hydropower and solar power and is a big consumer of solar, hydropower and wind powers.

According to the KPMG's 2020 report, between 2004 and 2015, 19.2 percent of global electricity consumption was provided by renewable energy. During the same period, the world has come to generate 147 gigawatts of renewable energy. New investments in renewable energy increased by 18 percent on average during the same period.

According to Korea National Renewable Energy Center, biogas is by far the biggest renewable energy source in Korea, with solar rising fast as a new option.