Project R-14495

Scaling up production and several demonstration sites for IPV applications (Research)

UHasselt and imec (partners in EnergyVille as Limburg's innovation centre for renewable energy), together with Soltech want to position themselves as European main players in the development of the next generation of integrated photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules. This will be based on tandem solar cells in which different PV technologies are stacked to combine even more efficiently to convert sunlight into electricity. By building the necessary additional infrastructure at the Thor site in Genk, SALKturbo's green-labelled IN2PV project aims at two main objectives: * First: UHasselt and Soltech will set up a demonstration area for integrated PV in an open test-field and on and around Soltech's new building where existing state-of-the-art silicon solar cells but also the new cell and module technologies and tandem technology from the first objective can be validated in different structures with integrated PV applications in infrastructure, buildings and AGRI-PV thanks to our services. The partners are thinking of tandem modules in a realistic scale canopy, vertical wall or AGRI-PV set-up, as well as BIPV demos in facades and as shadow elements on and around buildings. Companies will be invited through communications from EnergyVille, imo-imomec and Soltech to design, build and install these demonstrators in co-creation where IN2PV's project partners can offer their services at market rates. Ranging from Soltech building custom-made modules for prototypes and the corresponding validation in a (B)IPV demo with UHasselt to testing a business case with support of imec's E-yield model... These (local and international) companies will also be able to get the necessary access to the EnergyVille infrastructure to collaborate here on these new challenges, so that one can really speak of an open innovation platform with which the entire value chain can be served. If possible, we can then also link this infrastructure to the Living Lab and Energy Hub under development at the Thor site. This will then form the breeding ground for further cooperation and projects within Europe (HEU, interreg,...) with industry to refine specifications, work out validation and expand the product portfolio and know-how with this new PV generation. * Secondly, increase the production capacity of perovskite and CIGS thin film solar cells by investing in a evaporation plant and sputtering plant for higher throughputs. The relevance of these processes has already been demonstrated at lab scale in EnergyVille up to 30 x 30 cm². With these investments, we can significantly increase reproducibility and process efficiency by enabling more automation at large sizes. This approach will allow all partners, together with our customers from the region, to produce larger modules with these new materials at a relevant scale for new integrated applications. We will collaborate with product developers and manufacturers in the area for this purpose. After all, for real-life demonstrators and for industrial applications, process reliability is extremely important. We can therefore use this equipment to carry out developments with suppliers of new materials through to contract research for integrated applications in function of end users. With this, we therefore hope to attract even more energy companies to the Thor park, in addition to Soltech, to work together on IPV products of the future.

01 May 2023 - 30 April 2026