Prof. YAO Ling's team at the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, have provided the first global assessment of the electricity-generation potential and co-benefits of façade-integrated photovoltaics (FIPV). The study shows that solar panels installed on building façades could not only generate substantial electricity, but also reduce cooling demand, lower carbon emissions and support urban climate adaptation. This work was published in Nature Climate Change.

As climate change intensifies heat exposure, electricity demand and extreme weather in cities, climate-resilient urban development has become an urgent global priority. Buildings are central to this challenge because they account for a large share of urban energy use and emissions. Although solar photovoltaics have expanded rapidly worldwide, urban deployment is still dominated by rooftop systems, leaving vast vertical building surfaces largely underused.

To address this gap, JIANG Hou, YAO Ling, QIN Jun and their collaborators developed a global modelling framework to quantify the energy and climate benefits of building façade photovoltaics. Using spatially explicit information on building geometry and meteorological data, the team simulated the electricity generation potential of FIPV worldwide.

They further coupled photovoltaic generation with building energy models to evaluate how façade installations influence heating and cooling demand, and linked hourly generation-demand interactions to analyze associated benefits in carbon mitigation and climate adaptation.

The researchers found that, under the most plausible deployment pathway, FIPV could generate about 732.5 TWh of electricity annually worldwide and reduce building electricity demand by 8.1% on average. The study also shows that these combined benefits translate into meaningful economic and climate gains. Net lifetime electricity expenditure reductions are achievable for more than 80% of the simulated districts.

If FIPV adoption reaches the maximum potential by mid-century, cumulative carbon emission reductions could reach up to 37.7 Gt CO₂, corresponding to 0.0519 °C of avoided warming under currently announced national policies. However, urban morphology, climate conditions, building characteristics and socio-economic contexts all influence the performance and practicality of façade deployment.

In addition, they emphasize that targeted policies, adaptive planning and locally informed strategies will be essential for scaling this technology. This work highlights FIPV as a complementary pathway for building low-carbon, climate-resilient cities. By turning vertical building surfaces into productive energy assets, façade photovoltaics could help cities move beyond the rooftop-only approach and unlock a new frontier for urban renewable energy.

Reference:

Jiang H., Yao L.*, Qin J.*, Zhao W., Liu T., Zhu R., Ding F., Wang J., Zhang X., Zhang F., Lu N., Su F., Zhou C. Building façade photovoltaics enhance global climate resilience. Nature Climate Change, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02606-z.