PV4Facades project Ivan Gordon
Full name: Photovoltaics for high-performance building-integrated electricity production using high-efficiency back-contact silicon modules Partner Country / region Type ECN (coordinator) Netherlands Research institute Tempress Netherlands Industry Eurotron Netherlands Industry Soltech Flanders Industry Wienerberger Flanders Industry Eternit Flanders Industry Imec Flanders Research institute Eliosys Wallonia Industry Sunlego Turkey Industry Sisecam Turkey Industry METU-GUNAM Turkey University
Objectives and budget of PV4Facades Requested funding ~ 2 Meuro Development of low-cost, high-efficiency silicon back-contact cell technologies MWT (metal wrap through) cells IBC (interdigitated back contact) cells Development of back-contact interconnection and lamination technologies, with improved integrated cell and module architecture Lower cell-to-module loss than current industrial back-contact technology Lower cost than current industrial back-contact technology Development of back-contact PV technology specifically designed for building integration, Improved aesthetics Higher yearly energy yield The development of module technology with thinner glass, improved reliability and lifetime
Four regional subprojects Turkey Netherlands BIPV Flanders Start date = September 2014 End date = August 2016 Wallony
The Dutch sub-project focuses on IBC technology and foil-based module interconnection IBC cell technology based on polysilicon passivated contacts Main result first year: 20% cell efficiency reached with frontand-back-contact, 18% with all back-contact
The Dutch sub-project focuses on IBC technology and foil-based module interconnection Module technology for back-contact cells with foil-based module interconnection
The Flemish sub-project focuses on MWT cells and module interconnection via soldering through a fiber glass MWT cell technology based on passivated rear emitter (PERT cells) SiO 2 /SiN x Ni/Cu/Ag Via Target n + FSF p + emitter n ++ FSF n-cz n-cz Progres s AlO x /SiO x /SiN x Screen-printed Al Solder pad n-pert solar cell with plated Cu front and screen-printed rear Al - World-class 21.3% n-pert solar cell with screen-printed rear Al High efficient n-pert MWT with busbars on rear - Optimized via drilling and via passivation process - Developed via metallization process that is compatible with Ni/Cu plated front contacts - First batch of devices in progress
The Flemish sub-project focuses on MWT cells and module interconnection via soldering through a fiber glass Module technology for back-contact cells based on solder strips and glass fiber tissue for module interconnection First BIPV demonstrators made Korasun glass-glass for tile-roof (Wienerberger / Soltech) Solesia XL glass-back sheet for slate-roof (Eternit / Soltech)
The Walloon sub-project focuses on advanced reliability testing Some of the focus points: Degradation, thermal, mechanical, shading tests Tool development for steady state shading test EL analysis protocols developed
The Turkish sub-project focuses on developing key building blocks and on outdoor testing Şişecam develops thin glass with AR coating for glass-toglass PV modules Sunlego develops microinverter integrated modules METU-GÜNAM performs module testing for the consortium : long term and short term outdoor testing
General experience with SOLAR-ERA.NET Submission process Some confusion existed concerning rules and requirements for participation in Solar-Era.Net in some of the different regions/countries The actual submission process in 2 stages was therefore experienced as better than a 1-stage submission Regional sub-projects were made in such a way that they fitted together but still could also take place even if one of the sub-projects would fail Evaluation process Evaluation process took very long and was felt to be non-transparent Extra delay in start of PV4Facades was incurred due to the fact that the German sub-project did not get funded Reporting process Each funding agency has different requirements for reporting, which makes it difficult to align all the reporting Not fully clear what are the reporting requirements at European level and how to find these out Evaluation process of project during its lifetime and at the end not fully clear
General conclusions PV4Facades project is on track Active collaboration between the different regions and between industry and research institutes Overall positive feeling of all participants about Solar-Era.Net The fact that many different funding agencies with different rules are involved in Solar-Era.Net makes it sometimes difficult to find out the exact requirements and rules