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PVOptDigital
PVOptDigital - Exploitation of 5% yield potential in PV power plants via optimized operation management through automation and digitalization as well as optical inspection methods; Subproject: Creation of a maintenance strategy based on a decision matrix.
The PVOptDigital project aims to improve the monitoring quality and thus the operational management in PV systems in order to develop an additional yield potential of up to 5%. This is to be achieved through comprehensive automation and digital data processing. To this end, cross-platform digitisation and automation approaches as well as necessary interfaces for the optimal integration of module-specific or electro-optical analysis and inspection procedures in the operational management of PV systems are to be developed. Furthermore, optical and electro-optical inspection procedures are to be improved and new measurement technology for monitoring PV systems is to be developed and evaluated. Aquila has set itself the goal of advancing the development of cross-platform digitalization and automation approaches, as well as the necessary interfaces for the optimal integration of module-specific or electro-optical analysis and inspection procedures in the operational management of PV systems.
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Other
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 2641142.4
3D
3D PV modules with contour for integrated photovoltaics
The aim of the project is to develop a laminator and the associated lamination processes for the production of PV modules with 3D contours for use in integrated photovoltaics, for example in electric cars. In addition, novel characterization methods are applied and further developed and the long-term stability of the modules is analyzed. Furthermore, the demonstration of the efficiency of 3D lamination by building application-oriented PV modules with 3D contours and the comparison of the lamination process with the autoclave process are in the foreground.
The company Bürkle will develop a laminator for the production of PV modules with contours. In connection with 3D contours the demands on the laminator as well as the lamination process are increasing. The height of the module introduces a further dimension. Therefore, the classical lamination approaches like plate-plate lamination or plate-membrane lamination, which are currently used in the PV industry, cannot be applied. In this project, Bürkle will develop an innovative lamination technology in close cooperation with Fraunhofer ISE, which is suitable for the industrial production of 3D PV modules. Furthermore, the technology will also be applied to laminated glass and display lamination. At the end of the project, the goal is to offer a machine that enables a fast and reliable process for the production of 3D PV modules.
Related IP activities: PV for BIPV and similar applications,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Reduction of the cost of key technologies ,Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 2967714.7
BUSSARD
BUSSARD ' Busbarless solar cells with passivated contacts for next generation module integration
Sub-project:Evaluation and development of innovative front-, back-end and interconnection processes for busbarless TopCon solar cells
Fraunhofer ISE's subproject in the Bussard project is concerned with the development of ALD (Atomic Layer Deposition) processes on an industrial scale for surface passivation (boron emitter) and tunnel oxide formation. Furthermore, Fraunhofer ISE will establish and implement processes for the production of industrial TOPCon (Tunnel Oxide Passivated Contacts) solar cells (M2 format or larger) with average efficiencies of well over 23% and peak efficiencies of 24%. With focus on metallization, different printing technologies (indirect gravure, multi-nozzle dispensing and FlexTrail) for front side metallization with ultrafine contacts below 20 µm contact finger width and low Ag (silver) consumption will be evaluated and developed. The challenge is to achieve sufficient line conductivity with very small contact finger width and cross-sectional area. Further goals include the further development of the 'Tape Solution' approach for the interconnection of busbarless TOPCon solar cells as well as the production of small and full format PV modules using the solar cells to be developed. Further activities include the characterization of the PV (photovoltaic) modules and a technology comparison between 'Tape Solution', Smart Wire Interconnection Technology and Multi Busbar Wire Interconnection as well as detailed CTS (cell to system) analysis. Finally, the subproject includes a techno-economic evaluation of the developed technologies using the cost tool developed at Fraunhofer ISE for COO (cost of ownership) and LCOE (levelized cost of electricity) cost accounting.
Subproject: Parallel dispensing process for solar cells with passivated contacts
The subproject addresses the development of the multi-nozzle dispensing technology for the fine line metallization of finger widths of = 20 µm. The development of the multi-nozzle print head is carried out by HighLine Technology GmbH. The process development for busbarless silicon (Si) solar cell metallization is carried out by the project partner Fraunhofer ISE. Usually, screen printing silver (Ag) pastes are used here.
Subproject: Printing technologies that enable low Ag consumption and high throughput rates.
Sächsische Walzengravur GmbH (SWG) is pursuing the goal of researching new printing forme technologies for front-side metallization with ultra-fine contacts under 20 µm contact finger width and low silver (Ag) consumption. The challenge here is to achieve sufficient line conductivities with very small contact finger width and cross-sectional area. This is to be achieved in an indirect gravure printing process, which, however, requires a fundamental examination of the repro and structure specifications, printing forme structuring and the influences of two-stage ink transfer. As a result, the first demonstrators of a novel gravure printing forme should be available, on the basis of which process-reliable printing processes can be established for the industrial production of contact fingers for solar cells.
Subproject: Development of an indirect gravure printing process for busbarless solar cells
The sub-project is concerned with the development of an indirect gravure printing process for precise high-throughput metallization of solar cells. Furthermore, the technology for the production of thick-film conductor tracks is to be tested. For this purpose, new types of printing blankets and forms will be produced and the use of new materials evaluated.
Related IP activities: Technologies for silicon solar cells and modules with higher quality,New Technologies & Materials,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts ,Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 1989537.8
KATANA
KATANA - Calibration of large area tandem solar cells and modules for industrial perovskite silicon market entry
A major challenge for the industrial implementation of all future tandem PV technologies is a precise determination of efficiency over large areas. Today, no large-area sun simulators with sufficient spectral quality are available and modules must be measured in extensive outdoor tests. In the Katana project, the internationally recognized calibration laboratory for solar cells and modules at Fraunhofer ISE, the University of Freiburg and the companies Wavelabs, Oxford PV and Intego are pooling their expertise to develop a new calibration procedure as a future standard for determining efficiency with high accuracy. Analytical tools are being developed that enable calibrated efficiency determinations and subsequently systematic process optimizations. In addition, camera-based measurement methods (luminescence, thermography) will be used to support the understanding of the scaling of solar cells to larger areas up to the module. This will explicitly include lead-free cells that come from an ongoing technology project at Fraunhofer ISE.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts ,Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 3151762.6
Ko-Rec
Ko-Rec - carbon cycle and recycling of organic PV components
The aim of the joint project 'Ko-Rec - Carbon Cycle and Recycling of Organic PV Components' is a complete return of the inorganic components of silicon-based PV modules into the material cycle and thus the avoidance of material losses via unsuitable incineration plants. The PV modules must be recycled at the end of their service life, which results from the legal guidelines for the export of e-waste and, ultimately, transport costs. The plant and process knowledge built up in the project enables Germany to strengthen its position as a business location, since Germany is the first country to be affected by large quantities of end-of-life PV modules and thus has the opportunity to drive the development. The influence on the CO2 household in PV recycling is currently already clearly negative. With higher return volumes, the disposal costs in the waste incineration plant and the CO2 costs incurred increase. For this reason it is necessary for recyclers to change their current strategy to more efficient processes. The goal is to recover all materials from recycled old modules.
Related IP activities: Cross-sectoral research at lower TRL
Addressed IP targets: Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 2195112.9
PrEsto
PrEsto - Perovskite silicon tandem solar cells: Development of scalable process technologies
The overall objective of PrEsto is to generate IP and know-how as a basis for future economic activities of the participating partners, the German mechanical engineering industry and material manufacturers in the dynamic field of perovskite silicon tandem solar cells. Specifically, (i) the adaptation of industrially feasible silicon solar cell manufacturing processes for the requirements as a sub-cell in a tandem compound will be investigated and (ii) suitable processes, materials and the corresponding plant technology for the large-scale production of the perovskite top solar cell will be identified and developed. These activities are supported by spatially resolved characterization and modeling to identify key levers for process improvement. Finally, the processes will be evaluated economically and in the context of a life cycle assessment and, based on this, a roadmap for further commercialization will be developed. In this way, a broad industrial basis is to be created with regard to the actors and the available processes for further technology development, which will also ensure value creation and jobs in Germany in the long term. Fraunhofer ISE will contribute significantly to all objectives of the overall project
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 4257488.9
PV-Diesel-Global
PV-Diesel-Global ' Next Generation Renewable Diesel Hybrid Power Plants for the Global Energy Turnaround in Off-grid Regions
By using intelligent system solutions for diesel hybrid power plants with a high proportion of renewable generation, a large proportion of the diesel fuel currently used in the global sun belt and also in other, particularly windy regions of the world, can be replaced by environmentally friendly energy from the sun and wind. Because of the good solar radiation or wind supply and because of the expensive diesel transport, solar and wind energy offers particularly attractive economic prospects in these regions. Building on the successful results of the previous PV diesel joint research project, the resulting system solutions and components are therefore to be further improved in terms of economy, reliability and areas of application, and expanded to include wind energy, new robust large storage battery systems and new types of island grid solutions for spatially distributed feed-in. The common goal of the PV-Diesel-Global joint research project is to optimise PV power plant, wind farm and grid technology for stable grid operation and a sustainable power supply with a high proportion of solar coverage in large island networks.
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Other
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 33
Total budget: € 4421684
Learn morePEPSI
PEPSI - P-type epitaxial silicon wafers
In the Pepsi project, epi-wafers are to be produced as p-type wafers or directly as solar cell precursors with a built-in p/n junction instead of the n-type wafers that are currently used. In particular, the p/n junction directly produced from the gas phase together with the wafer makes it possible to fully exploit the potential of epiwafer technology. In addition to the high cost reduction potential in wafer production, enormous cost savings can be achieved in solar cell production. Furthermore, the processing of p/n-epi wafers eliminates many cost- and chemical-intensive process steps, which can significantly reduce the resource and energy requirements for solar cell production. In the Pepsi project, all individual steps of the epi-wafer production chain are to be optimized to achieve this goal. An essential contribution to the achievement of this goal is the adapted design of the porous separation layer, which is required to separate the grown epi-wafer from the substrate. This layer is to be optimized on single-wafer systems to also absorb and bind impurities from the process or underlying material. This so-called getter step significantly extends the functional range of the separation layer and can also be used to improve quality in analog processes. The epitaxy steps are also to be run in on a reference plant and examined there with regard to quality and removability. All processes will then be transferred to industrial inline systems and validated in high-throughput
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Reduction of the cost of key technologies ,Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 5677858.4
SnowFogS
SnowFogS - Detection and forecast of fog and snow for PV forecasts
The overall objective of the project is to improve PV performance forecasts and PV extrapolations in foggy and snowy situations on PV systems with a focus on short-term forecasts up to a few hours in advance. To this end, Fraunhofer ISE is pursuing the following scientific and technical objectives ' Development and research of methods for determining and forecasting fog probabilities and for determining snow probabilities based on satellite data and supplementary weather parameters. ' Integration of the new models for the prediction of fog resolution into the existing satellite-based method for irradiation at ISE ' Scientific analyses for the development of methods for the integration of the new models for fog and snow detection from satellite data into PV power predictions ' Evaluation of the developed methods into an operational test phase
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Other
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 1471049.6
ZeitnaH
ZeitnaH - Non-destructive evaluation of module components and validation of highly accelerated test methods
The aim of ZeitnaH is to improve and validate testing and qualification procedures for PV modules and the materials they contain during development. The methods should help different actors along the PV value chain to make their development processes more time and cost efficient and to increase product quality. The main scientific and technical work objectives are 1. development and validation of HASTs (highly accelerated aging tests), which allow to reliably detect practice-relevant weaknesses already on material or small sample level 2. further development of Scanning-Acoustic-Microscopy as a non-destructive method for the identification of manufacturing defects and measurement of important material properties 3. evaluation of material and laminate properties regarding their influence on long-term stability (focus: adhesive forces, elasticity) 4. Development of a method to compare the materials used in PV modules of the same type (analytical fingerprint)
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance
Funding Scheme: BMWi
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 1417454.7
Sundrive
Electric vehicles (EVs) are on an exponential rise around the world. They have the potential to significantly reduce CO2 emissions – but only if charged using renewable energy in a grid-friendly way. While self-charging EVs using roof-mounted photovoltaics offer a unique solution, much R&D is still needed to cut costs and overcome performance and aesthetics-related limitations. SUNDRIVE aims to develop an efficient, reliable, high-power-density and cost-competitive integrated photovoltaic sunroof for electric vehicles.
Related IP activities: PV for BIPV and similar applications,New Technologies & Materials
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts
Funding Scheme: VLAIO imec.icon
% of PV in the project: 90
Total budget: € 3211877
Learn moreCSP+
The goal of the CSP+ project is to create a compact hybrid photovoltaic (PV) and concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) system that has an LCOE (levelized cost of energy) in Flanders that is at least 25% lower than the LCOE of the current standard CSP technology. This LCOE reduction is achieved by the fact that the PV-CSP hybrid system will have a much higher energy yield due to the usage of diffuse irradiance, while the cost of the PV-CSP system will be only around 10-20% higher than that of a standard CSP system.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: VLAIO funding
% of PV in the project: 50%
Total budget: € 1656408
Flexible Large area 2T monolithic Tandem PSC-CIGS
The main target of this project is to design and engineer the first highly efficient flexible two-terminal (2T) thin-film solar devices based on hybrid tandem architectures with CIGS bottom cell and PSC top cell configuration, and on a relevant device size (>80 cm2) to demonstrate industrial feasibility. CIGS will be the industrial platform on which the perovskite top cell will be developed as additional building block to boost the device conversion efficiency. In order to achieve this target, this project will bring together academic partners and research institutes (TU/e, TUD, TNO, and UH), Dutch companies (STS, and Nouryon) and frontrunner end-user (MiaSolé). The “LAFLEX2T” know-how and infrastructures present in the consortium will be used to i) develop up-scalabling compatible R2R perovskite ink and functional layers for a stable top cell; ii) tune the stoichiometry of the CIGS absorber and thus the bandgap in order to maximize the complementary absorption of to the two sub-cells, iii) to select and synthetize charge transport layers to build up an efficient recombination junction layer which will provide the monolithic series connection between the two sub-devices.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts ,Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 864228
Learn moreMonitoring and Diagnosis of Photovoltaic Plants
With the increasing penetration level of photovoltaic systems in power networks, the importance of operation-maintenance and fault detection studies on PV plants is progressively increasing. Monitoring and faults diagnosis of photovoltaic plants are important for both customers and power grid in terms of economic and technical concerns. Faults that occur over time in photovoltaic plants where automatic fault diagnosis systems are not available can only be noticed when they reach a dramatic situation. This means, in the simplest terms, reliability and security problem. Advances in economical and reliable fault detection by processing data from photovoltaic plants have not progressed at the same pace with the increase in the spread of photovoltaic systems. The size of the data received from photovoltaic systems consisting of a large number of inverters and modules as well as the changes in weather conditions are factors that make processing this data difficult. Since the panels in large scale photovoltaic plants cannot receive the same irradiance due to weather and environmental conditions and it is not feasible to integrate a sensor into each panel, it is difficult to draw a meaningful conclusion from the collected data easily. The main challenge here is that the characteristic that occurs due to weather and field conditions and the characteristic behavior that occurs in fault situations are similar to each other. In this project, a system consisting of hardware, software and interface will be developed that allows remote real-time monitoring in order to evaluate the performance of the photovoltaic system, detect faults, prevent economic losses caused by operational problems and determine required revisions. The merit of this project is to develop intelligent fault detection algorithms by using the least number of sensors, without generating false-positives.
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance
Funding Scheme: Other (TUBITAK - TEYDEB)
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 0
Power management for 4T tandems (Power4T)
The goal of the project is a thorough feasibility and performance assessment of possible 4T tandem electrical module designs with an efficient 2-terminal module output, including the required module level power electronics (MLPE). Practical tandem PV can strongly support the TKI UE objective of high energy yield per m2.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in efficiency of established technologies (Crystalline Silicon and Thin Films) and new concepts
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 176805
Learn moreSymbizon
Goal of the project is to show how to achieve a combination of photovoltaic (PV) energy generation and strip farming that provides a positive business case for the farmer, maintains the use of the land for food production and improves ecological characteristics. The combined use of PV and agriculture will have a low density of solar panels per hectare, and thus a high kWh yield per hectare is needed. For this reason, the combination of bifacial solar panels and solar tracking will be the PV technology investigated in this project. Solar tracking is relatively new in the Netherlands. In this project the combination of solar tracking with strip farming will be investigated and optimized with respect to finance, ecology and food production. We expect that in this way an optimal combination between agricultural and energy landscape will be formed, that can contribute to large scale CO2 reduction, a good business case, and more sustainable farming.
Related IP activities: PV for BIPV and similar applications,Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Other
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 1244752
Learn moreSolarWind
The goal of the project is to determine the extent to which static and dynamic shadow effects have on additional energy yield loss and dynamic load on the power electronic equipment that could occur in combined solar and wind farms and how these depend on various farm designs and operational choices. This will be used to derive design guidelines for power electronics and park layout.
Related IP activities: Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 550890
Learn moreEnergy yield assessment of neXT gENeration and SustaInaBLE backsheets
The main results of EXTENSIBLE will be on the one hand calculation of the kWh/kWp and environmental footprint for the different backsheets and combined performance-reliability-sustainability guidelines for future material development for DSM. On the other hand development of energy yield simulation method including degradation rates and comprehensive environmental assessment of backsheets will be the scientific input for the broader PV community. Specific main results will be:
- Physics-based energy yield simulation framework extended with possibility to consider temporal evolution of material properties
- Report of high precision lifelong energy yield simulation (kWh/kWp) for 10 different material combinations at various climates
- LCA of the different module designs in different climates. ILCD and Cumulative Energy Demand impact assessment methods will be calculated guided by the Product Environmental Category Rules for Photovoltaics (PEFCR-PV).
- Summary report for future material development based on combined performance-reliability-sustainability insights.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Manufacturing technologies
Addressed IP targets: Further enhancement of lifetime, quality and sustainability and hence improving environmental performance ,Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 544456
Learn moreSolar@Sea II
Solar@ Sea II deals with the further development of an offshore floating PV concept based on lightweight flexible floating constructions using flexible thin film solar modules.
The project consortium, consisting of Bluewater Energy Services, Genap, Endures, Marin, Avans University and coordinator TNO, will build a small scale prototype system of about 10 kWp in which multiple floating units are connected. This system will be tested in an offshore-representative environment to prove the technical feasibility. A detailed design of a large scale floating solar energy farm, including the mooring system will be made, supported by scale model simulations in the basins of Marin. The layout of the system will also take care of ecological aspects, like the shadow effects on underwater life. To prepare the concept for market introduction, practices for mass production, transportation and offshore installation of the modules will be worked out. Cost effectiveness but also circularity of the concept and its selected materials will be the driving forces in the development.
Related IP activities: New Technologies & Materials,Operation and diagnosis of photovoltaic plants
Addressed IP targets: Major advances in manufacturing and installation
Funding Scheme: TKI Urban Energy
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 1168762
Learn moreMASPVPLUS
PROJECT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PROTOTYPE SYSTEM OF A STRUCTURAL BUILDING MODULE OF INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC PANEL COVERING WITH MONITORING, SECURITY AND CLOUD-BASED CONTROL
Related IP activities: PV for BIPV and similar applications
Addressed IP targets: Enabling mass realization of NZEB by BIPV through the establishment of structural collaborative innovation efforts between the PV sector and key sectors from the building industry
Funding Scheme: ERDF
% of PV in the project: 100
Total budget: € 344327.6
If you wish to get in contact with any of the project coordinators please send us an email to info@pvimpact.eu