UNDERSTANDING THE DEBATES ON BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAICS (BIPV) IN SINGAPORE USING Q METHODOLOGY

Abstract

The combustion of non-renewable energy sources contributes greatly to global warming and many other severe environmental problems, which provoked the worldwide consensus on the importance of sustainable development. In the building sector, the generation of electricity by harvesting solar energy using Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) is an attractive approach of utilizing renewable energy, especially for those highly urbanized regions such as metropolises. Singapore is such a metropolitan city where the deployment of BIPV could potentially play a significant role in the nation’s energy generation. However, the successful deployment of innovative niches like BIPV requires the protection from government supportive policies. As the stakeholders are the ones to accept and implement these policies, their opinions must be addressed accordingly. In order to understand the various stakeholders’ perceptions on the uptake of BIPV in Singapore, this study employed Q methodology to holistically and systemically assess the different perspectives on BIPV from 4 groups of key stakeholders, including BIPV manufacturers, designers, developers and statutory boards. Results showed that there are four main perspectives on BIPV in the local industry, namely 'Supervisory Support', 'Intensively Investigate', 'Cautiously Consider' and “Proactively Promote”. This suggests that there are significant differences in the stakeholders’ perspectives on BIPV, which should be taken into consideration in the future policy-making and strategic planning of BIPV in Singapore.