Seoul City Provides Up to 80% Subsidy for Installing Building-Integrated Photovoltaics

The 'Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)' system at Aribuilding on Eonju-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, completed installation at the end of last month

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide subsidies covering up to 80% of installation costs for citizens installing 'Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV)' on building exterior walls, windows, or roofs. The total support budget is 3 billion KRW.

BIPV uses solar cells as building exterior materials. Unlike traditional solar installations limited to rooftops, BIPV can be installed on various surfaces such as windows, exterior walls, and roofs.

In February, Seoul became the first local government nationwide to launch a BIPV pilot project, selecting a total of three sites: two private office buildings (Aribuilding and Alphabuilding in Gangnam-gu) and one church building (Sesin Church in Yangcheon-gu). Installation is expected to be completed by next month.

The solar panels applied to these three buildings are installed in the same form as regular exterior materials, improving the buildings' appearance. A total of 141 kW of colored solar panels will be installed, enabling each building to produce 14,000 to 54,000 kWh of electricity annually, saving 1.14 million to 7 million KRW in electricity costs per year. Additionally, an annual reduction of 53 tons of CO2 emissions is expected. Seoul explains that this is equivalent to planting approximately 8,000 30-year-old pine trees. The total project cost for the three sites is about 1.3 billion KRW, with Seoul covering 70% (900 million KRW) and the building owners bearing the remaining 30%.

In the second half pilot project, the city plans to remove capacity limits for support and carefully verify the eligibility of solar panel suppliers during the selection process. In addition to quantitative evaluations such as registration of general or specialized construction licenses, possession of electrical construction licenses, corporate credit ratings, distribution performance, and availability of installation personnel, qualitative assessments including business capability and proposals will also be conducted.

The subsidy application period is open until the 14th of next month, and the project will commence in October.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.