Renewable energies provide clean, inexhaustible, and increasingly competitive energy source differing from fossil fuels in diversity, abundance, and potential for use. Solar energy capacity in European Union has been increasing in recent years with Germany, Spain and Poland leading the way in new installations. In 2022, the European Union added a record-breaking 41.4GW of solar power, increasing the total solar power capacity by 25%. Within the solar energy market, perovskite-based solar cells (PSCs) will contribute significantly towards the overall mix of solar energy due to PSCs differentiators compare to other solar Photovoltaic technologies of: (i) low-cost, (ii) excellent power-to-weight performance and (iii) high power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 25.7% at lab-scale in 2022, up from 3.8% in 2009. A key challenge of PSC technology is replication at large-scale as there is a substantial difference in performance from small-area cell (lab-scale) and large-area module performance. PERSEUS is designed to establish a foundation for PSC production and application development within Europe. The project will develop and demonstrate 3 different large area PSC architectures that offer broad adoption potential across multiple industries such as Floating Photovoltaics, Building Integrated and Applied Photovoltaics, Agri-Photovoltaics and Urban Photovoltaics. As each end-user requires different properties (e.g. performance, lifetime and cost targets), PERSEUS will develop parallel solutions to meet end-user needs covering: (1) single-junction opaque modules (2) semi-transparent modules and (3) 4T Perovskite + CIGS tandem module architectures. These will be translated into ‘blueprints’, of multi-stage manufacturing line(s) which have validated, matched outputs and allow immediate post-project progress to the commercialization phase.
Solar photovoltaics (PV) come in a variety of new formats and materials that allow for a whole range of new and exciting applications. In this project the partnership aims to thoroughly measure the relevant parameters of one type of these new PV embodiments -- a semi-transparent module -- that has applications in building integrated PV (BIPV). The potential for this PV type to clad our tall steel and glass buildings in cities is huge, bringing renewable energy to where it is needed and away from our rural areas.
Silicon based PV, like the panels we regularly see on rooftops and in fields, are well understood from multiple viewpoints; location based performance, inefficiencies due to angle of installation, prediction of annual power yield and many more criteria. As a result of this good work anyone interested in deploying a PV system can use the resources available online to assess the impact a PV system will make on their energy profile. The same is true for comparing different types of silicon based PV as researchers or developers of new embodiments can highlight the up and downsides of a particular system.
Polysolar Ltd are specialist in BIPV with a deep interest in semi-transparency using our cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV technology which gives a neutral tint to the glass thus reducing glare and intensity inside the room. However, the deployment for this type of glass is not as well understood due to multiple factors like internal reflection, vertical orientation and illumination from the rear (non-active) side. To this end, when we predict power output it may not be as accurate as we wish which can lead to clients being disappointed and discouraged from purchasing and including this vital technology in their next construction project.
The National Physical Laboratory, NPL, are experts in measurements and have been involved with PV for many years developing standards and methodologies for testing to ensure all technologies are compared fairly. Their capabilities will define the experiments required to determine which factors influence the performance for these CdTe PV panels in relevant scenarios, leading to more accurate predictions of performance. This will increase the confidence in the technology and support its uptake.
Agrivoltaic technology allows dual use of land, combining agricultural production with photovoltaic electricity generation. We have already reported how innovative tinted and semi-transparent solar panels could utilise 'spare' solar irradiation for electricity production when installed above growing plants. Applying these, and newly developed flexible agrivoltaic materials, to existing polytunnels could help UK protected agriculture to meet net-zero carbon targets. This energy-intensive and valuable UK farming sector will: trial how best to install next-generation panels, practically and cost-effectively, in a real-world commercial setting; compare effects on soft fruit of their implementation; and show how generated energy can facilitate automated farming.
Applying novel solar panels over existing in-field structures reduces the need for rural land being lost to large solar farms that rarely benefits the grower with clean renewable energy. Here, the power will be used fully on site to grow berry crops using electric power to automate picking, power irrigation, sensing and vehicles; all sourced form renewables primarily, any excess will benefit the national grid in very much the same way a typical solar farm would. Ultimately we wish to grow 100% Electric Berries.
Cheaper, more efficient photovoltaics with improved aesthetics and form factors are required to enable further mainstream adoption of renewable energy in domestic and commercial environments. However, this requires a step change in the materials, device architectures and processing techniques employed, a capability that is currently unmet within the industry.
In the LONG HBAR project, Polysolar Ltd leads a consortium of world-renowned academics and industry partners, spanning the entire supply chain from the development of new materials, the scale up and integration of the materials into novel device architectures to installation and grid deployment.
The consortium will leverage a new class of photoactive materials and commercially ubiquitous processing techniques with cutting edge design, to introduce lightweight, conformable, affordable, flexible and efficient solar cells with low embedded energy costs, while also expanding the knowledge, capability and visibility of these global businesses and the UK research base.
As an enabler for a lower carbon future it is envisaged that initial applications for this new technology will be in automotive and architectural glass, providing an enhancement for electric vehicles and greener, self-sufficient buildings. The project will deliver inward investment opportunities and strengthen UK capability in 3rd generation photovoltaics by integrating new materials into existing lightweight photovoltaic technologies and developing knowledge to deliver a new UK supply chain at a globally significant scale for cost competitive renewable energy.
Agrivoltaic technology allows dual use of land, combining agricultural production with photovoltaic electricity generation. We already reported how innovative tinted and semi-transparent solar panels could utilise 'spare' solar irradiation for electricity production when installed above growing plants. Applying these, and newly developed flexible agrivoltaic materials, to existing greenhouses or polytunnels could help UK protected agriculture to meet net-zero carbon targets. This energy-intensive and valuable UK farming sector will: trial how best to install next-generation panels, practically and cost-effectively, in a real-world commercial setting; compare effects on soft fruit of their implementation; and show how generated energy can facilitate automated farming.
Cheaper, more efficient photovoltaics with improved aesthetics and form factors are required to enable further mainstream adoption of renewable energy in domestic and commercial environments. However, this requires a step change in the materials, device architectures and processing techniques employed, a capability that is currently unmet within the industry.
In the LONG HBAR project, Polysolar Ltd leads a consortium of world-renowned academics and industry partners, spanning the entire supply chain from the development of new materials, the scale up and integration of the materials into novel device architectures to installation and grid deployment.
The consortium will leverage a new class of photoactive materials and commercially ubiquitous processing techniques with cutting edge design, to introduce lightweight, conformable, affordable, flexible and efficient solar cells with low embedded energy costs, while also expanding the knowledge, capability and visibility of these global businesses and the UK research base.
As an enabler for a lower carbon future it is envisaged that initial applications for this new technology will be in automotive and architectural glass, providing an enhancement for electric vehicles and greener, self-sufficient buildings. The project will deliver inward investment opportunities and strengthen UK capability in 3rd generation photovoltaics by integrating new materials into existing lightweight photovoltaic technologies and developing knowledge to deliver a new UK supply chain at a globally significant scale for cost competitive renewable energy.
With demand for clean, reliable and affordable energy rapidly growing, the ability to apply the solar spectrum wherever sunlight is available becomes ever more important. By combining valuable unexploited strengths of thin film Photovoltaics (PV) and solar optics we co-generate electricity and high temperature heat with the part of the spectrum not used by PV, without sacrificing the level of electricity generation for PV alone, unlike existing products. The optics generates high enough temperatures to efficiently drive air conditioning, refrigeration, and even cooking. As the thermal part can be fabricated at little extra cost this approach is economic even without the benefits of increasing useful energy per square metre. High-rise buildings are particularly challenging in this respect but our system can be designed for economic production of energy on walls receiving direct sunlight. This makes it possible to provide cooling in Summer, heating in winter and refrigeration at any time, allowing the panels to be sized for maximum load and offering these services at the point where they are needed in the building, a space efficient and city friendly solution wherever the markets can respond to the relentless demand for better living standards.
‘Power Generating & Energy Saving Windows’ is a project which addresses Innovate Uk's ‘Material Innovation for a Sustainable Economy’ call, with its objectives of reducing the energy consumption and material usage involved in the manufacturing of solar cells, while enabling a new market through the development of colourless transparent photovoltaic thermal control window glazing units, that both generate and save energy as a single multifunctional building material.
The project combines supply chain partners for Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), including developer and producer of glazing Polysolar, PV materials specialist Merck and HVM Catapult partner CPI.
The project will be innovative in developing PV manufacturing processes, without using critically scarce materials. As well as reducing energy consumption in its life and its manufacture, the PV window product offers a significant environmental impact through power generation and savings.
In the last 24 months there have been 200,000 noise complaints logged by the 311 New York city service hotline. This averages 274 calls a day, 1 for every 84 New York City residents in a given year, and accounts for a third of 311 calls to the NYPD and the Dept. of Environmental Protection in the city. 'Keeping the Noise Down' is a project concerned with the development of autonomous, energy harvesting, non-toxic and recyclable environmental wireless sensors, which can be used for recording real-time street-level noise. The sensors are solar powered, using novel organic photovoltaic (OPV) technology from Molecular Solar, a Midlands-based UK start-up; the wireless sensors, which also use greener technology in the form of silicon-based battery alternatives, have been developed by the Univ. of Warwick. The novel noise sensors will be prototyped in a New York-based deployment, made possible through collaboration with the Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP).
Polysolar produces a unique transparent solar photovoltaic glazing panel designed for integration into the fabric of buildings. It has developed a concept for a petrol station canopy that it will be installing with a major supermarket chain. The transparent solar photovoltaic glass canopy delivers multiple benefits as a structural weather proof membrane, to replace conventional metal sheets, allow a degree of light through to the forecourt to reduce the traditional load on artificial lighting and produces renewable electricity to power the pumps and shop, resulting in a higher return on investment to the client. The study aims to test and monitor a new installation to compile an independent and comprehensive survey of the performance of the canopy to assit in promoting the wider take up of both petrol station canopies but also BIPV in construction more generally among architects and developers.
Project PPAG (Photovolatic Architectural Glass) aims to develop a working prototype/demonstrator of a scaled up OPV glazing module, which meets defined market application performance & specification requirements. The project aims to deliver a proof of technical feasibility both at laboratory scale & for large area module application, & evaluate electrical conversion efficiency, durability & lifetime. Areas where the project aims to meet specific application requirements include transparency & colour neutrality; electrical efficiency; cell size; durability; & processing costs.