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Designing with photovoltaics (PV) is the core focus of this paper which presents the results of a design study on conceptual PV applications for electric mobility systems. This is a relevant direction for new product development because PV technology can contribute to improved features of electric mobility systems not just in terms of CO2 emissions reduction but also regarding product aesthetics and user experiences. Design studies are multidisciplinary by nature; therefore, in this case technical, user, regulatory and aesthetic aspects are covered. Eleven conceptual designs were developed in 2019 by means of a design project executed at the University of Twente, encompassing solutions for PV-powered charging of electric vehicles, vehicle-integrated PV products and other applications. The concepts focus on various modes of transport beyond passenger cars such as public transportation, electric bicycles and utility vehicles, in some cases applying alternative charging technologies such as battery swapping and induction charging in their design. In this paper four of these conceptual designs are presented as case studies, showing their multidisciplinary focus as well as parts of the design process behind their development. An evaluation of these conceptual designs revealed several design challenges that need to be addressed in their development, including the limited space available for integrating PV cells, the technical limitations posed by some of the proposed charging methods and the effective visual communication of the concept's intended function.

This study assesses the feasibility of photovoltaic (PV) charging stations with local battery storage for electric vehicles (EVs) located in the United States and China using a simulation model that estimates the system's energy balance, yearly energy costs, and cumulative CO2 emissions in different scenarios based on the system's PV energy share, assuming silicon PV modules, and 5 kWh of storage capacity. Results show that systems located in commercial or office parking lots and used for charging EVs during working hours can be a feasible solution in all locations from a technical, financial, and environmental perspective in comparison with not only gasoline-fueled vehicles but also with grid-only charging. PV shares of 50% and 75% are achievable in all locations with PV array sizes in the order of 1-1.5 kWp, whereas a 100% PV share is possible but might result in high system costs. Scenarios with PV charging and local storage show emissions reductions of 60%-93% in the USA and 28%-93% in China compared with a gasoline-fueled vehicle.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming an increasingly attractive option to effectively and economically efficiently reduce global fossil fuel consumption as well as CO2 emissions associated with road transportation. In general, the grid provides the electricity required to charge an EV's battery. However, it could be worthwhile to consider EV charging by specific solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to further facilitate the use of renewable energy and to minimize CO2 emissions. Additional benefits could, for instance, be less overloaded local grids and additional grid flexibility. Because little information and experiences exist with so-called solar PV-powered EVs, this paper explores how well PV systems—with the possible combination of battery energy storage systems (BESSs)—might contribute to charging of EVs in four different countries, namely, The Netherlands, Norway, Brazil, and Australia. To this end, a model has been developed that calculates the interactions between PV-BESS systems, EVs, and the grid in each country to determine the electricity balance, financial consequences, and avoided CO2 emissions of PV-powered EVs, compared with EVs that are solely charged by the grid, as well as conventional passenger cars with an internal combustion engine (ICE-V). It is logically found that in countries with a high irradiation, the whole year through, such as Brazil and Australia, solar PV-powered EVs can be operated more effectively than in countries with a high variability of irradiation over the year such as The Netherlands and Norway. If the charging system's PV share is increased from 0% to 50%, the number of required grid charging events per year can be reduced from 104 to 34 in The Netherlands and from 123 to 55 in Norway. PV charging can also reduce CO2 emissions of EVs by 18% to 93% as compared with ICE-Vs depending on the location. From a financial perspective, PV-powered EVs are not yet financially feasible in all countries; however, in some nations, 100% PV charging is already a viable option. In general, it can be concluded that in contrast to driving an ICE-V, the further PV-powered EVs are driven, the more affordable they become—they might even generate financial revenues—and hence, the higher their positive environmental impact will be. On the basis of this study, it can therefore be concluded that solar PV-powered EVs are a technically feasible and increasingly financially attractive option for transport sector emission reductions in most countries when compared with regular grid charging of EVs and certainly as compared with ICE-Vs.

This article presents an initial performance analysis of a database of photovoltaic (PV) system performance time series collected within the European funded COST Action PEARL PV. The database contains monitoring data of over 8400 PV systems with accompanying metadata. The PV plants are small residential systems, primarily installed in Europe, with a high density in Belgium. In this initial study, the annual average performance ratio, the annual energy yield, and the performance loss rate of the systems are determined and evaluated. The systems have an average lifetime of 30.5 months. The annual mean performance ratio across all systems is 76.7% and the average yield is 954.9 kWh/kWp per year. The performance loss rate is calculated using three different statistical approaches and one irradiance data source. Average performance losses between $-$ 0.74%/year and $-$ 0.86%/year are calculated depending on the used approach. Furthermore, certain weather-dependent correlations are detected, such as decreasing performance ratio and increasing yield values with increasing irradiation. This study is a stepping-stone for further populating the present database, lessons learnt for handling large amounts of PV performance data, and carrying out performance studies of PV system fleets installed across Europe.

In 2018, a survey was conducted among 102 citizens in Suriname to evaluate their perception of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Nearly 75% of the respondents were aware of the possibility of generating electricity with PV systems and their related benefits, while, 25% of the respondents lacked knowledge about PV systems. Close to 65% of the respondents are not willing to install residential PV systems because of the high investment costs and the relatively low electricity tariffs by the national grid. For sustainability and economic savings, 26% of the respondents are willing to install a PV system. It could be concluded that despite of awareness of PV systems, their perceived high initial cost and locally low electricity prices are barriers to a broad dissemination of PV systems in Suriname.

This work presents a review of life-cycle assessment (LCA) studies of hydrogen electrolysis using power from photovoltaic (PV) systems. The paper discusses the assumptions, strengths and weaknesses of 13 LCA studies and identifies the causes of the environmental impact. Differences in assumptions of system boundaries, system sizes, evaluation methods, and functional units make it challenging to directly compare the Global Warming Potential (GWP) resulting from different studies. To simplify this process, 13 selected LCA studies on PV-powered hydrogen production have been harmonized following a consistent framework described by this paper. The harmonized GWP values vary from 0.7 to 6.6 kg CO2-eq/kg H2 which can be considered a wide range. The maximum absolute difference between the original and harmonized GWP results of a study is 1.5 kg CO2-eq/kg H2. Yet even the highest GWP of this study is over four times lower than the GWP of grid-powered electrolysis in Germany. Due to the lack of transparency of most LCAs included in this review, full identification of the sources of discrepancies (methods applied, assumed production conditions) is not possible. Overall it can be concluded that the environmental impact of the electrolytic hydrogen production process is mainly caused by the GWP of the electricity supply. For future environmental impact studies on hydrogen production systems, it is highly recommended to 1) divide the whole system into well-defined subsystems using compression as the final stage of the LCA and 2) to provide energy inputs/GWP results for the different subsystems.

Increasing integration of renewable energy sources, like solar photovoltaic (PV), necessitates the development of power forecasting tools to predict power fluctuations caused by weather. With trustworthy and accurate solar power forecasting models, grid operators could easily determine when other dispatchable sources of backup power may be needed to account for fluctuations in PV power plants. Additionally, PV customers and designers would feel secure knowing how much energy to expect from their PV systems on an hourly, daily, monthly, or yearly basis. The PROGNOSIS project, based at the Cyprus University of Technology, is developing a tool for intra-hour solar irradiance forecasting. This article presents the design, training, and testing of a single-layer long-short-term-memory (LSTM) artificial neural network for intra-hour power forecasting of a single PV system in Cyprus. Four years of PV data were used for training and testing the model (80% for training and 20% for testing). With a normalized root mean squared error (nRMSE) of 10.7%, the single-layer network performed similarly to a more complex 5-layer LSTM network trained and tested using the same data. Overall, these results suggest that simple LSTM networks can be just as effective as more complicated ones.

Photovoltaic (PV) monitoring and fault detection are very crucial to enhance the service life and reliability of PV systems. It is difficult to detect and classify the faults at the Direct Current (DC) side of PV arrays by common protection devices, especially Line-to-Line (LL) faults, because such faults are not detectable under high impedance fault and low mismatch conditions. If these faults are not diagnosed, they may significantly reduce the output power of PV systems and even cause fire catastrophe. Recently, many efforts have been devoted to detecting and classifying LL faults. However, these methods could not efficiently detect and classify the LL faults under high impedance and low mismatch. This paper proposes a novel fault diagnostic scheme in accordance with the two main stages. First, the key features are extracted via analyzing Current&ndash, Voltage (I&ndash, V) characteristics under various LL fault events and normal operation. Second, a genetic algorithm (GA) is used for parameter optimization of the kernel functions used in the Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifier and feature selection in order to obtain higher performance in diagnosing the faults in PV systems. In contrast to previous studies, this method requires only a small dataset for the learning process and it has a higher accuracy in detecting and classifying the LL fault events under high impedance and low mismatch levels. The simulation results verify the validity and effectiveness of the proposed method in detecting and classifying of LL faults in PV arrays even under complex conditions. The proposed method detects and classifies the LL faults under any condition with an average accuracy of 96% and 97.5%, respectively.

In Indonesia, the solar photovoltaic (PV) market is rapidly growing. However, studies on the outdoor performance of PV systems in this tropical rainforest country is lacking. In this work, we compare the performance of PV systems in Indonesia with PV systems in Australia (arid, desert, hot) and Italy (temperate, dry summer, hot summer). Monitoring data from 2008 to 2019, ranging from two to nine years, from fifteen PV systems of six technologies were analyzed. The performance of the PV systems was presented using their performance ratio (PR) and performance loss rate (PLR). PR was calculated using IEC standard 61724, and PLR was calculated using seasonal and trend decomposition, applying locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (STL decomposition) and the year-on-year approach from NREL/RdTools. The results showed that the CIGS (copper indium gallium selenide) system had the highest average PR value of 0.88 &plusmn, 0.04. The lowest average PR was found in the a-Si (amorphous silicon) PV systems (0.78 &plusmn, 0.05). The p-Si (polycrystalline silicon) systems in the Cfb (temperate, no dry season, warm summer) climate of Italy had a higher average PR of 0.84 than those operated in climates BWh (arid, desert, hot) of Australia and Af (tropical, rainforest) of Indonesia, with the same value of 0.81. The p-Si systems showed the lowest PLR, with a value of &minus, 0.6%/year. The fastest degradation was experienced by a-Si modules at &minus, 1.58%/year. The methodological differences in the calculation of PLR using both tested approaches resulted in a significant difference in the degradation value, which demands standardization of the term and calculation methodology.

Over the last two decades, grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems have increased from a niche market to one of the leading power generation capacity additions annually. In 2019 the total worldwide installed photovoltaic electricity generation capacity exceeded 630 GW. It is forecasted that 1 TW will be reached by 2022. This further development is coupled with the question at what prices solar photovoltaic electricity can be provided and delivered to the customers. The installation of PV systems for self-consumption is already now an interesting option for many people but in general limited to those who have access to a rooftop they own or can use. Enabling residents of multi apartment buildings to commonly use electricity generated by a PV system (collective self-consumption) is a relatively new development and is still facing a lot of administrative and regulatory challenges. This paper provides an overview of existing regulatory schemes in IEA PVPS countries and presents and analysis of two self-consumption case studies.

This paper presents the results of a conceptual design study regarding photovoltaic applications in electric mobility systems while considering technical, user, regulatory and aesthetic aspects. A total of eleven different design projects were developed, mostly encompassing innovative applications for EV charging infrastructure, vehicle-integrated PV systems, or a combination of both. Four of these conceptual designs are presented and evaluated in detail in this paper, showing the potential advantages that PV technology could bring to electric mobility systems not just in terms of CO2 emissions reduction but also regarding product aesthetics and user experience.

A functional prototype of a luminescent solar concentrator photovoltaic (LSC PV) module, called Leaf Roof, aims at demonstrating the design features of LSC PV technologies such as coloring, transparency, and flexibility in physical shape. In this paper, the prototype is presented and the first measurements of its performance are shown. The geometrical gain of this new type of PV module is 3.6. For two types of Leaf Roof modules, I- V curves have been measured resulting in efficiencies of 5.8% for a red-colored PV module, and 5.5% for a green-colored PV module under similar conditions. These results demonstrate colorful, robust solar energy collectors which can be produced in a wide variety of shapes are viable, attractive devices for use in building integrated systems. Additionally, thanks to the use of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as a cell encapsulant, the Leaf Roof modules are less susceptible to energy losses at elevated temperatures due to high irradiance and high ambient temperature conditions.

In this chapter, we will present the potential of grid-connected and off-grid PV systems in Indonesia based on data from 2018.

COST Action entitled PEARL PV aims at analyzing data of monitored PV systems installed all over Europe to quantitatively evaluate the long-term performance and reliability of these PV systems. For this purpose, a data bank is being implemented that can contain vast amounts of data, which will enable systematic performance analyses in combination with simulations. This paper presents the development process of this data bank.

This paper analyzes the use patterns of a residential smart grid pilot in the Netherlands, called PowerMatching City. The analysis is based on detailed monitoring data measured at 5-min intervals for the year 2012, originating from this pilot which was realized in 2007 in Groningen, Netherlands. In this pilot, smart appliances, heat pumps, micro-combined heat and power (&micro, CHP), and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems have been installed to evaluate their efficiency, their ability to reduce peak electricity purchase, and their effects on self-sufficiency and on the local use of solar electricity. As a result of the evaluation, diverse yearly and weekly indicators have been determined, such as electricity purchase and delivery, solar production, flexible generation, and load. Depending on the household configuration, up to 40% of self-sufficiency is achieved on an annual average basis, and 14.4% of the total consumption were flexible. In general, we can conclude that micro-CHP contributed to keep purchase from the grid relatively constant throughout the seasons. Adding to that, smart appliances significantly contributed to load shifting in peak times. It is recommended that similar evaluations will be conducted in other smart grid pilots to statistically enhance insights in the functioning of residential smart grids.

This article presents an in-situ comparative analysis and power quality tests of a newly developed photovoltaic charging system for e-bikes. The various control methods of the inverter are modeled and a single-phase grid-connected inverter is tested under different conditions. Models are constituted for two current control methods, the proportional resonance and the synchronous rotating frames. In order to determine the influence of the control parameters, the system is analyzed analytically in the time domain as well as in the frequency domain by simulation. The tests indicated the resonance instability of the photovoltaic inverter. The passivity impedance-based stability criterion is applied in order to analyze the phenomenon of resonance instability. In conclusion, the phase-locked loop (PLL) bandwidth and control parameters of the current loop have a major effect on the output admittance of the inverter, which should be adjusted to make the system stable.

Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are considered a sustainable alternative to automobile transportation today. The electric bike includes all the benefits that conventional bicycles offer, plus faster, more comfortable and longer trips, as well as less effort for the user. In this paper, we specifically focus on a new type of e-bike, the so-called ‘solar-powered e-bike’. Therefore, this review paper explores existing literature findings for the use of solar energy in transportation, and more specifically in e-bikes. This paper aims to capture the status of and experiences with the use of e-bikes; more specifically, with solar-powered e-bikes. It presents research conducted so far on e-bikes and solar-powered e-bikes, as well as the main technical features of the solar e-bike. Finally, it analyzes a sample of e-bikes’ and solar-powered e-bikes’ users, based on Dutch National Travel Survey data and an experimental field study conducted in 2017. Data showed that the main target group of (solar) e-bikes are commuters in the age group between 40 and 60 years old, commuting distances longer than 6 km, with a gross income higher than €2500. Solar-powered e-bikes are concluded to have potential as a sustainable way of transportation in urban areas and cities, potentially replacing the conventional means of transport.

Short-term power output forecasting of photovoltaic (PV) systems has become increasingly important to balance the supply and demand of grid electricity in an efficient manner. It is well known that the operating temperature has a strong influence on the power output of photovoltaic devices; therefore, improvements in simulating the short-term PV module temperature add to the accuracy of PV power output forecasting. In this study, a new empirical model is proposed, which is suitable for transient weather conditions. This model uses four variables to predict the temperature of PV modules, namely ambient temperature, irradiance, wind speed, and relative humidity. The model is applied and evaluated for various silicon-based PV technologies at two Southeast Asian locations (Singapore and Jayapura) on a 1-min basis. Results show root-mean-squared errors (RMSE) of 1.5–3.2 K, which marks an average improvement in RMSE of 46%, compared with similar existing empirical models.

This paper shows the results of a design study on possible applications for Luminescent Solar Concentrator PV technologies. The study focused on product integration of LSC PV technologies and was executed by students of Industrial Design Engineering at University of Twente (NL). In total 16 different and highly innovative conceptual designs resulted from this project, which were prototyped at scale to show their feasibility and integration features. In this paper we present several concepts, and discuss relevant findings for the integration of LSC PV technologies in future products and buildings. It is shown that the typical material properties of LSCs; low cost, colorful, bendable, and transparent do not only offer a lot of design freedom, but also offer excellent possibilities to incorporate this technology into the overall function and experience of applications.

In this study, a novel configuration for luminescent solar concentrator photovoltaic (LSC PV) devices is presented, with vertically placed bifacial PV solar cells made of mono-crystalline silicon (mono c-Si). This LSC PV device comprises multiple rectangular cuboid lightguides, made of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), containing Lumogen dyes, in particular, either Lumogen red 305 or orange 240. The bifacial solar cells are located in between these lightguide cubes and can, therefore, receive irradiance at both of their surfaces. The main aim of this study is to theoretically determine the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of five differently configured LSC PV devices. For this purpose, Monte Carlo ray tracing simulations were executed to analyze the irradiance at receiving PV cell surfaces, as well as the optical performance of these LSC PV devices. Five different LSC PV devices, with different geometries and varying dye concentrations, were modeled. To maximize the device efficiency, the bifacial cells were also attached to the back side of the lightguides. The ray tracing simulations resulted in a maximum efficiency of 16.9% under standard test conditions (STC) for a 15 &times, 15 cm2 LSC PV device, consisting of nine rectangular cuboid 5 &times, 5 &times, 1 cm3 PMMA lightguides with 5 ppm orange 240 dye, with 12 vertically positioned 5 &times, 1 cm2 bifacial cells in between the lightguides and nine 5 &times, 5 cm2 PV cells attached to the back of the device. If the cells are not applied to the back of this LSC PV device configuration, the maximum PCE will be 2.9% (under STC), where the LSC PV device consists of 25 cubical 1 &times, 1 &times, 1 cm3 PMMA lightguides with 110 ppm red 305 dye and 40 vertically oriented bifacial PV cells of 1 &times, 1 cm2 in between the lightguides. These results show the vast future potential for LSC PV technologies, with a higher performance and efficiency than the common threshold PCE for LSC PV devices of 10%.

A PV powered inflatable tent has been developed using flexible PV modules which have been integrated in the tent's roof leading to a light-weight and easily usable product. This this paper presents energy balance studies, the modular reinforced flexible PV system design and other design features of this product-integrated PV application. The nominal power of the PV powered tent is at present 544 Wp (at η=8%). It contains a battery of 300 Ah, which is sufficient for power supply to basic functions such as the use of mobile phones and light.

This paper evaluates the environmental effects of low power PV lighting products, which are increasingly used in rural areas in South East Asia, by means of a life cycle analysis (LCA). The main goals of the project are to determine (1) the environmental impacts, (2) which parts are contributing to environmental impacts that occur, and (3) the accuracy of an LCA of these PV products. The study is based on an entrepreneurial case in Cambodia. Three PV lighting products with a nominal power of 0.7 Wp, 4.5 Wp and 40 Wp respectively, have been compared with three alternatives for lighting services. The LCA was executed with Simapro software using the Ecoinvent 2.1 database and applying the ReCiPe 2008 method for the impact assessment. An important conclusion of the study is that solar PV lighting products have less environmental impact than conventional lighting solutions, such as lighting services from kerosene lamps and compact fluorescent lamps powered by car batteries. The environmental profile of small size PV lighting products can be improved by approximately 50% by recycling of the batteries. From an evaluation of the accuracy of an LCA of PV lighting products, it can be concluded that impacts of these PV lighting products are lower or comparable to those of lighting by compact fluorescent lights powered by electricity from the grid in the South East Asian context. As such, they offer an environmentally beneficial lighting service for off-grid households.

The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the energy sector and the current status of photovoltaic (PV) systems in Suriname and to investigate which role PV systems can play in this country’s future energy transition. At this moment, 64% of the power is available from diesel/heavy fuel oil (HFO) gensets while 36% is available from renewables namely hydroelectric power systems and PV systems. Suriname has renewable energy (RE) targets for 2017 and 2022 which already have been achieved by this 36%. However, the RE target of 2027 of 47% must be achieved yet. As there is abundant irradiance available, on an average 1792 kWh/m2/year and because several PV systems have already been successfully implemented, PV can play an important role in the energy transition of Suriname. In order to achieve the 2027 target with only PV systems, an additional 110 MWp of installed PV capacity will be required. Governmental and non-governmental institutes have planned PV projects. If these will be executed in the future than annually 0.8 TWh electricity will be produced by PV systems. In order to meet the electricity demand of 2027 fully, 2.2 TWh PV electricity will be required which implies that more PV systems must be implemented in Suriname besides the already scheduled ones.

We describe an innovative method to simulate the energy yield of photovoltaic (PV) cells under complex, three dimensional (3D) irradiation conditions by exploiting Computer Aided Design (CAD) software functionality. This can significantly facilitate PV energy yield simulations, because CAD software offers powerful ray-tracing and rendering features of 3D objects and sceneries. The concept is demonstrated by simulating the charge yields of a Product-Integrated PV (PIPV) solar cell located in an indoor environment. To this end, indoor CAD sceneries are ray-traced to render grey-scale or red-green-blue (RGB) encoded images. PV power output is then determined by translating the CAD-rendered images back into numerical data of irradiation, distributed on a 2D PV surface having a pre-defined cell-interconnection scheme. Although the concept is a very promising one, further software development and research is required to increase computational performance at high accuracy levels whilst facilitating software use.

Solar PV is now the third most important renewable energy source, after hydro and wind power, in terms of global installed capacity. Bringing together the expertise of international PV specialists Photovoltaic Solar Energy: From Fundamentals to Applications provides a comprehensive and up-to-date account of existing PV technologies in conjunction with an assessment of technological developments. Key features: - Written by leading specialists active in concurrent developments in material sciences, solar cell research and application-driven R&D. - Provides a basic knowledge base in light, photons and solar irradiance and basic functional principles of PV. - Covers characterization techniques, economics and applications of PV such as silicon, thin-film and hybrid solar cells. - Presents a compendium of PV technologies including: crystalline silicon technologies; chalcogenide thin film solar cells; thin-film silicon based PV technologies; organic PV and III-Vs; PV concentrator technologies; space technologies and economics, life-cycle and user aspects of PV technologies. - Each chapter presents basic principles and formulas as well as major technological developments in a contemporary context with a look at future developments in this rapidly changing field of science and engineering. Ideal for industrial engineers and scientists beginning careers in PV as well as graduate students undertaking PV research and high-level undergraduate students.

In this study 1-minute measurements of spectrally distributed irradiance in the Netherlands are evaluated by investigating the Average Photon Energy (APE). The measured data are combined with spectral response curves of various photovoltaic (PV) technologies such as c-Si, mc-Si, CdTe, CIGS, dye-sensitized solar cells (DSC) and polymer organic solar cells (OSC) to obtain energy yields in kWh/m2 on a daily, monthly and a yearly time scale. The incident spectra attenuate due to varying air mass, precipitable water and aerosol optical depth. Results show that in the Netherlands the spectra hold higher energy content in the summer in comparison to the winter. The APE changes in a quadratic manner over the season and has a peak in July. On average the APE is in between 1.80 and 1.93 eV. Blue shifted spectra occur in the summer. Organic solar cells - DSC and OSC - have a unique behavior toward spectral variation. An evaluation of their spectral performance based on the Spectral Factor (SF) shows that organic solar cells yield the highest spectral gain compared to the other PV technologies with a SF of 1.01 compared to a SF of 0.966 of c-Si.

This paper presents the shading features of the software tool ‘VR4PV’ which has been developed in the virtual reality laboratory at University of Twente. It enables researchers and designers to evaluate PV systems, BIPV or PV powered products in various phases ranging from the design phase to the performance evaluation phase by using a virtual 3D environment. This study aims to show the capabilities of the VR4PV software tool in the design phase of PV-powered products regarding complex shading conditions in the built environment. In VR4PV shadows of surrounding objects can be taken into account to assess the power output of PV cells on a product's surface at different positions. To evaluate these shading features the case of a PV powered street light has been assessed which is located inside a courtyard of office buildings. Results show that the VR4PV can be applied to easily find an optimal configuration of the PV cells during the design stage of this PV powered lamp.

To employ new solar photovoltaic technologies in products and buildings, many systems need to be adapted. Inspired by the cylindrical shape, in this work we have evaluated the performance of luminescent solar concentrator photovoltaic (LSC-PV) elements with narrow PV cell strips that could be integrated in an outdoor lighting pole. Silicon photovoltaic (PV) cells were attached to the back of both flat and cylindrically bent PMMA lightguide sheets containing the dye Lumogen Red 305, and mirrors to non-covered edges of the light guides. The energy performance of these two elements was measured. The flat and bent LSC-PV elements were also simulated using optical modeling and the resulting performance parameters from simulations and experiments were compared. From simulations for a flat LSC-PV, the optical collection efficiency, concentration and electrical conversion efficiencies were found to be 18%, 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively, for a geometric gain of 10. For a bent LSC-PV shape, the respective values are 21%, 1.4% and 3.4% for a geometric gain of 6.7. Due to reduced sensitivity to the angular dependence of incoming irradiance it is expected that these bent LSC-PV elements would perform well on both sunny and cloudy days.

We analysed a monitored grid-connected PV system of 34 kWp in Indonesia to investigate the performance of PV systems in tropical climates. The PV system has been installed in Jayapura, the capital of the Province of Papua, Indonesia, by the beginning of 2012. Due to the aged gensets and frequent lack of fuel, the city regularly suffers from black-outs ranging from a few minutes to a complete day. Energy losses are related to the temperature (46%), to power outages (28%) and to system faults (27%), all relative to the total estimated energy losses of 7.2 MWh, which account to 17% of the total electricity production during the investigated period. When the PV system is online, it performs well with PRs of 78% and 79% for both Tripower arrays, 91 % for the SMC array and the Involar array performing significantly less, with an average PR of 54%. This is in line with other PV systems in Europe

In this study we estimate the potential of off-grid PV systems in Indonesia at a provincial level as a follow-up of a study on the potential of grid-connected PV systems in Indonesia which we executed in 2012 [1]. For this study we use an adapted methodology leading to cumulative numbers for the nominal power of installed off-grid PV systems, their LCOE and the relative financial benefits compared with diesel generators.

To estimate the performance of PV products' cells in an indoor environment we have developed an analytical model, which calculates the efficiency and power production of various types of PV technologies as a function of distance from natural and artificial light sources. The model aims to assist designers during the energy balance calculations when creating PV-integrated products for indoor use. To validate the model, PV cells of 10 commercially available PV-powered products in the power range of 0.8mWp to 4mWp, have been measured indoors, under three types of artificial illumination (halogen, fluorescent, LED lights) and natural light. Since the model's purpose is to give a best estimation for design processes, the accuracy does not need to be high. Moreover, given the difficulty to accurately measure low irradiance (

Places of large potentials of sustainable energy production and places of energy consumption are often very different and separated by large distances across the globe. This paper first discusses potentials of solar technology in terms of global availability using PV technology and actual energy production. Solar energy is widely under-used and one way to reduce this is to improve production in low-energy places with high demand: large cities. According to this option, about 40% of the electricity consumption in the built environment could be produced by solar PV systems. To reach this goal appropriate solar PV energy conversion devices and energy storage systems are needed. This paper discusses conditions in the built environment and functional and design qualities enabling an increased diffusion of the technologies. In a comparative analysis of PV technologies, the criteria taken into account encompass efficiency of the type of solar cell and commercial availability. Special attention is paid to the design features of different PV systems, like flexibility, colour and transparency that might help in their utilization as integrated in building material and ornaments in modern architecture. The same procedure is followed for electricity storage devices. The preliminary conclusion is that at present the freedom of design is largest for a combination of crystalline silicon PV cells and Li-ion batteries. Implications for urban policy will be discussed.

In our paper, we present a new model for PV boats named RhinoSimSol, which is supposed to support simulation of the design of PV boats to evaluate PV boat performance in an early design stage. The model comprises various algorithms such as for solar trajectory and irradiance calculations to determine indicators of the PV boat's performance in an early design stage. In order to determine these indicators for PV boats, scenarios can be used which let the user chose various options, such as a sailing route, start time of sailing and time of year. In order to demonstrate the functionality of RhinoSimSol, we executed 54 simulations with various combinations of 9 PV modules and 6 batteries. The performance parameters we compared were 1) maximum average speed for a 30km trajectory, 2) autonomy of the PV system with an average speed of 12km/h and 3) the PV system component cost. The results of these 54 simulations, speed, autonomy and cost for the PV system, were compared with an actual PV system on an existing PV boat. Performance of PV boats are optimistic compared with real monitored data: 76% overestimated. This suggest the following could be improved: more PV system components, such as MPPTs, and a more accurate irradiation model. Our simulation approach in Rhino shows that it can help determine and improve the performance of PV boats in an early stage of development.

Our paper shows and discusses the results of a design study regarding product applications based on concentrating PV systems. It is generally acknowledged that CPV technology has great potential in medium to large power systems. So far the potential of CPV for products in the built environment has hardly been investigated. To capture probable future CPV products a project was executed in 2012 with 15 teams of design students who were commissioned to develop a conceptual product design with integrated CPV. Though all designs were innovative and surprising, four concepts appeared to be technically feasible: a flexible roof system, a shading bench with e-charger, a concept called Parasol; and an e-mobility charger. It is concluded that from the perspective of industrial design engineering a whole range of innovative CPV products can be developed for use in the built environment.

In our analysis of our PV-powered racing boat `Scylla' we monitored the PV system during 8 racing legs of the Frisian Solar Challenge 2010. We monitored various data with a 5 second interval such as motor loads, PV power and battery state of charge. Our PV boat showed to have a performance ratio of at least 0.702. We expect this value to be higher since we compared our short time interval monitoring data with hourly irradiance values. This leads to errors since our PV-powered racing boat's PV system does not operate when the battery is fully charged. We did a simulation of various configurations of PV modules and battery capacity. This shows for a specific scenario that a 3.2kWh battery capacity would be sufficient to meet the motor load while not having any PV modules on board. This scenario shows low impact on the weight of the boat, but high impact on the cost of the battery pack: €8000. A large quantity of PV modules reduces generally the PV system's price, but shows high impact on the total PV boat's weight: an additional 150kg over 80kg. Battery pack and PV module cost is then reduced to €4000.

For about 150 PV boats which have been built during the last 30 years, we evaluated PV, mechanical and performance characteristics. From this evaluation followed that PV boats under 10 meters are most feasible to be equipped with preferably low weight PV modules of approximately 2kWp for electric propulsion. Most boats are equipped with PV with a surface area between 5m2 and 10m2 (78%). For boat length, 54% is between 4m and 8m. Most boats weigh up to 1000kg (56%). However, a large share of PV boats weighs much more: up to 85.000kg. Best performing PV boats — when considering speed and electrical efficiency-weigh around 250kg. The latter have a weight [t]/PV [kWp] ratio of around 1:2. In general, we notice under dimensioned PV systems installed on PV powered boats. In order to evaluate PV boat design parameters, we collected and evaluated the properties of 150 boats for commercial, recreational and private purposes. We evaluated PV boat design problems which lead to recommendations for improved designs of PV integrated boats. Among others, the hull choice may vary for different situations in which a boat is used; therefore a right hull needs to be selected carefully fitting sailing circumstances.

In our paper we will compare grid-connected PV systems with fossil fuel based electricity within electricity infrastructures at Indonesian islands. Our approach is based on geographic mapping of the irradiance potential (kWh/m2/year), electrification rates on islands (%), performance prediction of grid-connected PV systems (kWh/kW p ) and the CO 2 reduction potential (g/kWh) of grid-connected PV systems in the Indonesian archipelago in the year 2011. So far, extensive studies on grid-connected PV systems for island electrification in Indonesia are lacking, and as such the results will be relevant for the realization of a pilot grid-connected photovoltaic system of 35kWp in Jayapura, situated in the Indonesian province of Papua, since in this province the electrical energy demand is growing. In this study we presented a method to determine the potential of grid connected PV in Indonesia. The total potential is about 94 TWh/year and the required installed capacity is around 80 GW p , based on PV modules with an efficiency of 15%. By using the full potential of grid connected PV 3.0 Mt CO 2 emissions can be saved.

Photovoltaic (PV) lighting products are increasingly used to provide rural households in developing countries with clean and safe lighting. These households usually do not have access to electricity from a power grid and rely on either kerosene lamps or electricity from car batteries which are inefficiently charged at local charging stations. PV lighting products can deliver a higher quality of service. Moreover, they are safer and more reliable (1). Another important aspect is their environmental benefit when compared to their traditional alternatives, which we have evaluated by a life cycle assessment. Our study is based on a case in Cambodia (2).

A photovoltaic-thermal panel or PVT panel simultaneously generates heat and electricity. This paper reports about the design of a new PVT panel by paying specific attention to user requirements, costs, manufacturing, building integration and installation. The panel's technical aspects and energy performance where also optimized. The result is a plug-and-play liquid PVT panel which consists of a PV laminate glued on top of a plastic channel absorber. The panel is covered by a plastic layer to reduce heat losses. It is equipped with four connection points which enhance the flexibility of the positioning of PVT panels on a tilted roof. Because of this feature the installation process will be simplified and installation costs will be decreased. Since part of the production process can be automated, production costs can be decreased as well. In Western Europe at an irradiation of 1000 kWh/m2.year, the PVT panel is expected to yield about 100 kWh/m2 of electricity and 1.0 GJ/m2 of heat.

Given the high potential of PV technology to reduce the environmental impact of electricity use of products, it would be worthwhile to advance the integration of PV systems in mass produced products. We assume that industrial design engineering (IDE) could play a crucial role in making PV technology fit for product applications by its focus on functionality and usability. IDE might have an added value to existing R&D of PV technology which emphasizes on increased performance and decreased production cost of PV cells and modules. Therefore, in this paper, we will assess how industrial design methods might favour the development of product-integrated PV applications. In our project product designers have conceptually designed 17 products with integrated PV cells. The project took place in 2007 at the School of Industrial Design Engineering of University of Twente in the Netherlands. During the design process several innovative design methods were applied, among which the innovation phase model, lead user studies, platform driven product development, risk diagnosis, technology road mapping, TRIZ, innovative design and styling, innovation journey and constructive technology assessment. By observing 17 PV-powered products which resulted from the project we evaluated the innovative effect of industrial design methods on product-integrated PV applications. The application of IDMs resulted in a broad range of varied innovative PV-powered product concepts ranging from small products, like electronic handhelds, to middle-sized products like toys and portable fridges, to big-sized objects such as building-integrated PV elements and a zeppelin. The results show that the use of carefully chosen and applied industrial design methods can help to better integrate PV technology in products.