bipv

SPE, ETIP PV: Bolder approach would help continent seize largely untapped building-integrated PV potential, which goes well beyond rooftop installations.

BIPV has remained a niche market in Europe for more than 10 years. According to trade group SolarPower Europe, over 200 BIPV products are available in Europe and future growth could be pegged to further legislation in the EU, such as the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD).

S’Tile has developed BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) solutions for all types of new buildings. The Linea module combines aesthetics and flexibility with very high power performance, enabling modules to easily fit with designer’s requests for installing modules on facade and roofs. The company is showcasing its products at Intersolar Europe 2019.

The Netherlands-based PV module manufacturer Energyra B.V will be launching its first high-efficiency 60-cell module using P-type monocrystalline PERC solar cells with ECN patented metallization wrap-through (MWT) technology with a back contact conductive backsheet configuration. Energyra modules will have peak power values ranging from 300 to 325Wp and high durability under dynamic weather conditions, while providing best-in-class aesthetics for residential PV applications.

Transparent PV (TPV) aims to optimize both the transmission of visible light while maximizing power conversion. Edgar A. Gunther explores some of the companies making major headway towards mainstreaming see-through solar.

Nanoelectronics R&D organisation imec has been appointed as the lead to a three-year €5 million EU funded R&D program on perovskite solar cells that brings together a number of European research and commercial partners.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE has teamed with PV manufacturing equipment specialist, SCHMID Group on lower cost BIPV modules that could reduce production costs by as much as 35%.

The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has set a new R&D goal to develop a commercially viable thin-film-on-silicon tandem solar cell with 30% conversion efficiencies.

Tesla reported another major decline in its residential solar installations for the fourth quarter of 2017, while a supply shortage in its energy storage system ‘Powerwall’ has created a customer backlog of solar and storage installs of more than one year.

Solaria Corporation’s ‘PowerVision’ series of customized architectural solar (BIPV), power generating glass solutions for building facades that can enable net zero energy or meet ‘WELL’ building standards and are eligible for ‘LEED’ points in energy efficiency saving buildings and structures. PowerVision glass can be widely used in nearly every aspect of a building envelope beyond the rooftop to generate electricity.